Agencies and mayors are preparing for the second phase of vaccination

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Members of the Mayors’ Association met yesterday with staff from the Department of Health and the National Guard to coordinate the next phase of vaccination against COVID-19, which is expected to begin in the coming weeks and covers people over 65 years of age. for years, education professionals and first responders.

This is the first major phase in which approximately 760,000 people will be able to participate, according to the National Guard’s assistant general, José Juan Reyes, so they request the assistance of municipalities to facilitate coordination and assign internal priorities in each municipal council.

“We asked them to identify the first responders, the municipal police, among others, to establish a system of meetings with the start of phase 1B,” Reyes explained in a brief meeting with the press at the exit of the Convention Center. of Villalba, where the activity took place.

Advanced phase 1A

Phase 1A consisted of inoculation by healthcare professionals, and the vaccine is currently given to staff and older adults in long-term care centers. As of yesterday, 39 of these centers had been treated, said Iris Cardona, undersecretary of the Department of Health.

Cardona explained that when they inoculate about 70% of the people considered in the first phase, they will continue to serve the educational staff, which is estimated at about 200,000 people; adults over the age of 65, numbering about 400,000; and the first respondents, who are like 160,000 people.

“We move as the plan is conceptualized. We are completing phase 1A. We have already exceeded 60% and we understand that in the next few weeks we will reach that magic number of 70% of health workers and we can move on to phase 1B, “he said.

Reyes said that so far they have received 160,000 doses of vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer. Of these, 126,000 were distributed and 71,000 were administered. About 18,000 received the second dose of these vaccines, the military said. Puerto Rico receives between 30,000 and 40,000 doses of vaccines a week.

Of the 71,000 people who received the vaccine, side effects were recorded in only 11 cases. None of these situations were serious, the health official said.

Luis Javier Hernández, executive of Villalba and president of the Association of Mayors, explained that in addition to identifying basic staff in municipalities, they will provide information on the elderly and bedridden in their cities so that they can be vaccinated with priority. The association groups the mayors affiliated to the Democratic People’s Party.

He also argued that now that vaccination is entering a phase that covers more people, many municipalities will cooperate in providing their facilities so that they can serve as centers for inoculation.

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