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It is in three stages that the Portuguese population will be vaccinated for covid-19. The coordinator of the working group created by the government to define the vaccination plan, Francisco Ramos, said that the main objectives of this vaccination plan are “to reduce mortality” and “admissions to intensive care units”.
The official presented on Thursday the different stages of the vaccination process, which the prime minister called “an immense effort”.
First stage
“The first group of priority groups are people aged 50 or over with one of the following diseases: heart failure, coronary artery disease, renal failure and chronic respiratory disease with ventilatory support, ie the exact correspondence of the most frequent diseases in severe cases of pathology. People residing at home and hospitalized in long-term care units and their professionals and, finally, health professionals directly involved in the provision of care ”and the security forces.
For Portuguese included in the first phase of vaccination who are not in homes and long-term care units, there will be 1200 vaccination points across the country available to administer covid-19 vaccines. In this first phase, health centers will be the places where this drug will be made available and administered, explained Francisco Ramos.
The vaccine will be given by appointment. “A system where health services will identify who belongs to risk groups will be privileged and we will be proactive in calling them. This will be based on the information available in health centers and, knowing that there are a number of Portuguese who do not use them, there will be an alternative that these people can use to have access to the vaccine in health centers, ”he said.
Second level
“The definition for a second phase of two groups is already proposed: people aged 65 and over without any pathologies, recognizing that the elderly are the most vulnerable group. The second group of people, in this case from the 50 years and up to 64, with the spread of pathologies – diabetes, active malignant tumors, kidney disease, liver failure, obesity, hypertension. The estimate is that there are 950 thousand people in the first phase, 250 thousand people living in homes, hospitalized in long-term care units and their professionals, 400 thousand people in this group of people with comorbidities and 300 thousand people in the professional group. For the second phase, the estimate is 1.8 million over 65 and 900 thousand people in this group with these characteristics “, explained the coordinator of task force, Francisco Ramos.
Third phase
The third phase will be seen as “The rest of the population”, explains the coordinator of the working group created by the government to define the vaccination plan, stating that this structure depends on the “pace of supply” of vaccines. “If, for whatever reason, this pace is slower than the baseline scenario, you will need to create new priority groups and define a third group,” explained Francisco Ramos.
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Vaccination starts in January
Vaccination of the Portuguese against covid-19 will begin in January, the coordinator confirmed, adding that the task force still does not feel confident to estimate the specific day when the first round of vaccinations can begin.
“In an optimistic scenario, the first wave of vaccinations will take place between January and February. In what will be the typical scenario, from January to March If, in fact, things will go worse than expected in terms of delivery, from January to April. What can be said for certain is this in January we will be able to start the vaccination process “He said.
“Not all vaccines arrive on the first day, but they come gradually throughout the year,” explained António Costa, stressing that the priority is “to protect those who will protect us”, such as medical personnel and security forces. Secondly, it will be people with health problems. A plan that will be “transparent”, underlined the premier.
Agreement with six producers and 22 million vaccines on their way to Portugal
“Six agreements have now been concluded. The first was that of AstraZeneca, on August 14, which counts 300 million [de doses] for the European Union and 6.9 million for Portugal. The second for Sanofia / GSK, where the doses are not defined. The Johnson & Johnson group already in October, 200 million [de doses] for the European Union and 4.5 million for Portugal. Pfizer with 4.5 million for Portugal. The value of CureVac is practically agreed upon, between four and five million. The latest contract signed, that of Moderna, has a lower amount, 80 million [para a Europa] of which we have 1.8 million ”, explained the president of Infarmed, Rui Santos Ivo.
The first vaccine to arrive in Portuguese territory, if approved, should be that of Pfizer, just three days after the “yes” of the European Medicines Agency, ie the first day of January 2021. So he said this Wednesday – the director Pfizer Portugal doctor, Susana Castro Marques, in an interview with RTP.
The pharmaceutical representative also explained that Pfizer and BioNTech will ensure all stages of vaccine transportation and distribution, from the manufacturing plants to the vaccination sites designated by the Portuguese authorities. “We will have an air distribution component in some key points in the country or region and then a ground transportation network to then carry out distribution from these centers to other designated locations,” he added.
Laboratories awaiting authorization
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced Monday that it has received two conditional marketing authorization applications for vaccines developed by BioNTech and Pfizer and Moderna, hoping to issue a decision “within a few weeks”.
After the green light from the European regulator, it is up to the European Commission “to speed up its decision-making process with a view to issuing a conditional marketing authorization valid in all EU member states and in the European Economic Area in a few days” , explained the EMA in a statement.
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