THE Ministry of Health advised on Friday that the Sinopharm covid19 vaccine has been approved for administration to breastfeeding mothers in Trinidad and Tobago.

In a statement, the ministry said this directive follows the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group’s recent approval.

“This vaccine is also approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for use by breastfeeding mothers,” it said.

“Women in this category should therefore feel secure in taking the Sinopharm vaccine once it becomes available to them.”

It said currently only the Sinopharm vaccine has been approved for breastfeeding mothers and no vaccine, Sinopharm included, is approved for pregnant women in TT.

“The government of TT remains committed to safeguarding the health of the citizenry and will continue to provide safe and effective WHO approved covid19 vaccines to the population.”

In another statement, the ministry also advised that it has approved the use of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor blockers (Tocilizumab or Sarilumab), approved by the WHO, as a therapeutic in the treatment of patients with severe or critical covid19.

“This decision to approve these therapeutics in TT is based on the findings and recommendations of the ‘WHO therapeutics and covid19 living guidelines’ report on July 6, 2021.”

It said the WHO has also recommended that patients with severe and critical covid19 should now receive both corticosteroids and IL-6 receptor blockers which are currently available in TT.

“Clinical leads throughout the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) were notified and have received authorisation to immediately commence use of these drugs on patients with severe or critical covid19, when required.”

The statement said other drugs, including Remdesivir, Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Hydroxychloroquine, and Ivermectin have not received WHO approval for use and are therefore, not authorised in the treatment of covid19.

WHO said in a statement on its website on Tuesday, “These were the findings from a prospective and a living network meta-analysis initiated by WHO, the largest such analysis on the drugs to date. Data from over 10,000 patients enrolled in 27 clinical trials were considered.

“These are the first drugs found effective against covid19 since corticosteroids were recommended by WHO in September 2020.”