Puerto Rican health officials said Monday that in the next four weeks, only those over 65 will be vaccinated against covid-19.
Therefore, the vaccination process that was followed, among others, by the first line medical staff, was suspended until after the vaccination of the elderly.
This was announced in a statement by the Secretary of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico, Carlos Mellado, who announced that he will sign the order on Monday.
“We will make sure that the vaccines get to where they really need to be, according to the current phase. Our seniors are our priority. They represent the most vulnerable population and it is our duty to guarantee the vaccine to avoid preventable infections, “he said in a statement.
“We will not tolerate anyone jumping or advancing the phase that suits them. Given the changes in the new administrative order, we will continue to be vigilant so that the orientation is not violated in any way,” Mellado said.
The secretary announced that on Monday he will sign an administrative order ordering significant changes in the vaccination process.
This order states that for the next four weeks only and exclusively adults over the age of 65 or over will be vaccinated in all centers on the island, except for the centers identified for the education system.
The order also clarifies that the change of front-line medical staff will begin again when the shift for the elderly ends.
On the other hand, he reported that a group of health inspectors have already been appointed in the vaccination centers to validate the order and order of the processes established from the beginning.
The Head of Health asked the general public to respect and wait their turn to be vaccinated, according to the current phase.
He also stressed that all requests for vaccination should be directed to the Department of Health, which is the Agency that leads the public health efforts.
In turn, the Department of Health referred to information related to the fact that some workers of the State Electoral Commission (EEC) were vaccinated.
In statements to Efe, health sources indicated that it is a process that was never authorized and was stopped immediately after he became aware of it.
According to official data released on Monday, Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 1,836 deaths on the island and there are 87,440 confirmed positive cases.
Puerto Rico has a population of 3.2 million.