The Secretary of the Department of Health (DS), Carlos Mellado López, reported on Sunday that starting tomorrow, the emergency interventions will start to be gradually vaccinated in the six vaccination centers led by the National Guard.
It was also indicated in the press release that the distribution of vaccines to various centers on the island for the vaccination of elderly adults is beginning.
“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 still treat health professionals “, Mellado López specified in written statements.
In addition, Mellado López explained that they will integrate a change system that will be available to older adults, as well as a “Dashboard” information platform to keep the vaccination information up to date by the municipality.
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 the health professionals we continue to vaccinate “, he insisted.
The Covid-19 vaccination centers run by the National Guard are: the Pedrín Zorrilla Coliseum in San Juan, the Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum in Bayamón, the Center for Fine Arts in Caguas, the 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 to 16:00.
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“Our goal is to vaccinate all the first responders across 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 Deputy General of the PR National Guard, Major General José J. Reyes.
For her part, the director of the Covid-19 Vaccination Program, Dr. Iris Cardona, said that “first we want adults over the age of 75 to initiate 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.
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 Safety (DSP), Alexis Torres, expressed his hope for the start of the vaccination process for respondents, “our first respondents are among the officials who were most exposed to COVID- 19 We try to protect the large public. So far, we have lost five colleagues from the Police Office and one colleague from the Office for Emergency Management and Disaster Management to be infected with this virus. Today they begin to be vaccinated so can count on this protection while continuing to provide security and well-being to all of Puerto Rico. “
According to the Department of Health, phase 1A will continue until the end of January, while phase 1B, 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 “, he concluded.