There were no panic and no large crowds to get the covid19 vaccine at vaccination sites in North Trinidad on Thursday.

This was even though after the Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that the first two covid19 delta (B1) variant cases had been detected.

In a release, the ministry said two nationals who recently returned to the country, who were put in mandatory state-supervised quarantine because they were unvaccinated, tested positive for the variant from swabs taken on the seventh day.

The first patient came from the US and the second from Mexico, passing through Panama and Guyana before coming to Trinidad and Tobago.

In July Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh called on the public to brace for the impact of the highly transmissible delta variant by being vaccinated.

Delta has already been detected in over 140 countries, where the percentages of hospitalised critically ill patients and deaths have doubled. The variant is more infectious than the original, alpha variant: one infected person may infect up to eight people.

When Newsday visited the vaccination site at Holy Trinity Cathedral, in Port of Spain, 15 people were registered. Though people were slowly trickling in, by 9.30 am ten people had already got their first dose.

Dean’s warden Cedrick Joefield told Newsday the North West Regional Health Authority had recently added the church to the list of walk-in vaccination sites.

The National Academy for Performing Arts and Woodbrook Health Centre were closed. Security guards at the entrances said vaccination would resume on Friday.

An official at the Maraval Health Centre said with the introduction of mass vaccination sites and drive-through sites, fewer people have been visiting the smaller ones, and on Thursday the numbers were significantly lower.

Operations at the St Joseph Enhanced Health Centre site flowed smoothly.

Deyalsingh could not be reached for comment.