Health begins phase 1B vaccination against COVID-19 months

The Secretary of the Department of Health (DS), Carlos Mellado López, reported on Sunday that starting tomorrow, emergency interventions will begin to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the six vaccination centers led by the National Guard gradually.

Likewise, the distribution of vaccines will begin in various centers on the island to vaccinate elderly adults who do not live in long-term care institutions.

“All groups are important and we would like to vaccinate them all at the same time. There are many issues that we are considering at the same time and we will work to improve the response. We have been vaccinating for four weeks and we will gradually integrate phase 1b, without forgetting that we continue to treat health professionals. “, said Mellado López.

He also said they will integrate a change system that will be available for older adults, as well as a “Dashboard” information platform to keep vaccination information up to date by the municipality. The press release did not indicate the start date of these initiatives.

He added that “We have shared our efforts to have a greater impact on vaccination. The National Guard will start vaccinating 300 emergency interventions identified by the Department of Public Safety (DSP) for each of the six centers available starting tomorrow. Which means that not all police officers will be able to participate tomorrow to get vaccinated, but only those identified and informed by the DPS. The logistics are staggered so that we can participate in them without excluding health professionals who are still vaccinated “, Indian.

The vaccination centers against COVID-19 led by the National Guard are: Pedrín Zorrilla Colosseum in San Juan, Rubén Rodríguez Colosseum in Bayamón, Centro de Bellas Artes in Caguas, Salvador Dijols Coliseum in Ponce and the Palace of Recreation and Sports in Mayagüez. During this period, these centers will serve the health professionals and emergency interventions identified by the DSP. The established schedule is from 8:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon.

“Our goal is to vaccinate all the first responders on the island within four weeks of phase 1B. The first respondents, both state and municipal, will be vaccinated in the regional centers operated by the National Guard in San Juan, Caguas, Bayamón, Arecibo, Ponce and Mayagüez “, said the adjutant general of the National Guard of Puerto Rico, José J. Reyes.

They will start for people over 75 years old

For her part, the director of the COVID-19 Vaccination Program, Iris Cardona, said that “we first want adults over the age of 75 to start vaccination, followed by those over the age of 65. Vaccines will be made available to all and in accordance with the established priority. The age phase is about 400 thousand people and we want to vaccinate them all in an orderly process “, he commented.

* In the case of Ponce, for appointments to the University of Health Sciences in Ponce, write to [email protected] or call 787-812-2525 *

As explained by the Secretary of Health, over 91 providers of the Department of Health have vaccines available and as they are received, they will be distributed among the mentioned centers to vaccinate the elderly. In total, health has 64 hospitals, 51 primary care centers, 70 CDTs and 17 IPAS groups. Another 11 additional IPAs will be added tomorrow, and 157 community pharmacies will be added next week to support the management of vaccination of older adults.

The vaccination process for health workers began on December 15. One week ago, vaccination of the elderly began in extensive care facilities run by Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy. Vaccination of participants in intellectual disability programs has also begun.

On the other hand, the Secretary of the Department of Public Security (DSP), Alexis Torres, expressed his hope for the start of the vaccination process for the respondents. “The first respondents are among the officials who were most exposed to COVID-19 trying to protect the general public. So far, we have lost five colleagues from the Police Office and one colleague from the Office for Emergency Management and Disaster Management because we were infected with this virus. Today they are starting to be vaccinated so they can count on this protection, while continuing to provide security and well-being to all of Puerto Rico, ”Torres said.

According to the Department of Health, phase 1 will continue until the end of January, while phase 1-b, which was scheduled to begin at the end of January, is advanced. Similarly, work is being done on the vaccination logistics of teachers and administrative staff of the Department of Education.

“Our goal is always to get everyone in Puerto Rico vaccinated. To achieve this, we join forces with many components of health and safety to achieve this. In the meantime, we urge the public not to lower their guard. The mask, the distance and the washing of the hands are a priority at this moment “, concluded Mellado López.