The first 47,500 vaccines from Moderna arrive in Puerto Rico

The 47,500 vaccines of Modern that the Puerto Rican government had planned to receive arrived on the island this morning, confirmed the adjutant general of the National Guard Jose Reyes the New Day.

“All the vaccines we expected were received in four simultaneous deliveries,” Reyes said. The delivery came three days after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its emergency use last Friday night, after a group of experts gave its approval by a 20 to 0 vote.

The Assistant General explained that part of the vaccine doses will be used to complete the vaccination of non-hospital health professionals, while anticipating that delivery will be sufficient to begin subphase 1b.

Find out more: What are the differences between Pfizer and Moderna vaccines?

“We focus on health professionals. We will continue with the first respondents and then with the essential staff “, he declared. “The first responders, such as the police, firefighters, medical emergencies, municipal management and state emergency. All these groups are part of this first phase, as well as the essential staff, the people with critical conditions, as the inventory arrives, we open that range of vaccinations “, indicated Reyes.

Once the vaccines arrived on the island, members of the National Guard kept the doses in four locations: 20,000 were located at the US Army Garrison Fort Buchanan in Guaynabo; 10,000 were located at the Central Caribbean University of Bayamón; another 10,000 are already stored in the Medical School of Ponce; and the remaining 7,500 were kept at the De Diego Research Foundation in San Juan. Moderna vaccines, the second to receive an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), require -20-degree Celsius freezers.

The general also said that on Wednesday the first regional vaccination center should be ready in Pedrín Zorilla Hill in San Juan.

In the coming days, at the same time, Reyes assured that the regional centers in Ponce, Caguas and Arecibo would be ready. Subphase 1b will start to run in these centers. Regarding the coordination for tours of the groups that will be vaccinated, the official said that in recent weeks the heads of agencies and public entities have been asked for lists of employees interested in being vaccinated.

These lists will be used when verifying the identity of the person, who must bring his ID card when traveling to one of the vaccination centers.

Puerto Rico already received a first shipment of 30,225 doses of vaccine from last week Pfizer, the first FDA approved.

administration confirmed that 21,400 doses of vaccine will arrive on the island on Wednesday, which will be distributed in a second tranche to the 65 hospitals in the country, as well as to primary medical groups and health centers that meet federal requirements.