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On Monday, January 25, the announced appointment system will be implemented to accelerate and facilitate the administration of COVID-19 vaccines on the island.
This was anticipated today by the Secretary of Health, Carlos Mellado, who first informed this newspaper about the date scheduled to start this system.
“On Monday we will go ahead with that,” he said, noting that the system will allow “the number of people to be vaccinated each day.”
As this newspaper announced, it will be through the digital platform of turnospr.com that people who want to be vaccinated against the virus will be able to schedule appointments to be immunized.
It is important to emphasize that the digital meeting system will operate in accordance with the stages of vaccination against COVID-19 in Puerto Rico. Currently, the process continues in phases 1-A and 1-B. Phase 1-A includes health professionals and employees, older adults gathered in long-term care units, employees of these places and residents and home staff for people with intellectual disabilities. Phase 1-B includes non-institutionalized adults over the age of 65, the first to respond (police, fire and medical emergencies) and some key workers, such as education workers.
As Mellado explained, those interested in vaccination should enter this system and demand a change.
“The day and time (to be vaccinated) will be announced by e-mail or text message,” he said.
He added that there are also people who have turned to different places and vaccine providers to ask for immunization.
“We will call (also) the people (listed on those lists) to give them ranks. These lists also need to be refined, because (people) cannot be written on six and seven lists (at the same time), “said Mellado, who explained that turnospr.com will not allow duplication or one person to make multiple appointments.
As reported in the last week and a half, the staff who manage the turnospr.com platform met with Health staff, as well as support staff from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the VOCES Vaccination Coalition, finalizing the details for the beginning of this system.
The primary doctor commented that the agency will soon announce a call center to participate and guide people interested in vaccination. However, he anticipated that the amount of COVID-19 vaccines arriving on the island would remain limited.
Late last year, General José Reyes of the National Guard announced that he intended to launch an appointment system for the operation of regional antivirus vaccination centers. This system was coordinated with the Medical College. Yesterday Reyes reported that the responsibility for growing this system had been transferred to Health and was about to begin.
Dr. Iris Cardona, director of vaccination COVID-19, had also anticipated “the recommendation to establish a kind of change to streamline processes and make it more equitable for people.”