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The Secretary of the Department of Health (DS), Carlos Mellado López, announced this Sunday that from tomorrow emergency responders will begin vaccinating against COVID-19 in the six vaccination centers led by the Guard National gradually.
Vaccines will also be distributed to various centers on the island to vaccinate elderly adults who do not reside in long-term care institutions.
“All groups are important and we would like to vaccinate them all at the same time. There are many aspects 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, not to mention that we are still caring for health professionals “, Has indicated Mellado López.
He also said that a shift system will be integrated that will be available for older adults as well as an “Dashboard” information platform to keep up to date vaccination information by municipality. The start date of these initiatives was not indicated in the press release.
He added that, “We have divided efforts to achieve greater impact on vaccination. The National Guard will begin vaccinating 300 emergency responders 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 attend vaccinations tomorrow, only those identified and reported by the DPS. has indicated.
The Centers for vaccination against COVID-19 led by the National Guard are: the Pedrín Zorrilla Coliseum in San Juan, the Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum in Bayamón, the Fine Arts Center in Caguas, the Salvador Dijols Coliseum in Ponce and the Recreation Palace and Sports in Mayaguez. During this period, these centers will care for health professionals and emergency responders identified by the DSP. The established hours are from 8:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon.
“Our goal is to vaccinate all first responders across the island in four weeks once Phase 1B begins. First responders, both state and municipal, will be vaccinated at regional centers operated by the Guard. National in San Juan, Caguas, Bayamón, Arecibo, Ponce and Mayagüez, “said Assistant General of the National Guard of Puerto Rico, José J. Reyes.
They will start for over 75s
For her part, the director of the COVID-19 Vaccination Program, Iris Cardona, said that “we first want adults over the age of 75 to start vaccination followed by those over the age of 65. Vaccines will be made available to to all and according to the established priority. The phase of older adults is around 400 thousand people and we want to vaccinate them all in an orderly process “, he commented.
* In the case of Ponce, for appointments at Ponce Health Sciences University, write to [email protected] or call 787-812-2525 *
According to the Secretary of Health, over 91 providers of the Department of Health have vaccines available and as they are received will be distributed among these centers to vaccinate older adults. In total, Health has 64 hospitals, 51 primary care centers, 70 CDTs and 17 IPAS groups. Tomorrow 11 more additional IPAs will be added and next week 157 community pharmacies will be added to support the management of vaccination of older adults.
On December 15, the vaccination process for health workers began. One week ago he began vaccinating older adults in extended care facilities run by Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy. Vaccination of participants in intellectual disability programs was also initiated.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety (DSP), Alexis Torres, expressed hope for the start of the vaccination process for respondents. “Our first responders are officials who have been most exposed to VOCID-19 trying to protect the general public. So far, we have lost five colleagues from the Police Bargain and a colleague from the “Negotiated for Emergency Management and Disaster Management to catch the virus. Today they are starting to vaccinate so that they can count on this protection while continuing to provide security and well-being to everyone in Puerto Rico,” Torres said.
According to the Department of Health, phase 1-a will continue until the end of January, while phase 1-b is being advanced which was scheduled to start at the end of January. Similarly, work is being done on the vaccination logistics of teachers and administrative staff in the Department of Education.
“Our goal is always for everyone in Puerto Rico to be vaccinated. To achieve this, we are joining forces with many components of health and safety to achieve this. In the meantime, we ask the public not to lower their guard. The mask , distancing and hand washing is a priority at the moment “, concluded Mellado López.