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The third batch of coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine developed by two pharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Pfizer with 20,475 doses of vaccine arrived in Lithuania on Monday morning by plane from Germany.
Every week after shipment
We also have confirmation from the European Commission and the manufacturers that we will receive 20,475 thousand weekly shipments for at least three months. Undoubtedly, the EC as the coordinator of negotiations and discussions with manufacturers, then the quantities may change, our expectations on the higher side. Today, both the third shipment and the second shipment that arrived earlier are distributed to the regional centers, so that we will soon be able to vaccinate more than 30,000. people ”, said the Minister.
Once these doses of vaccine have been administered, it will mean that the need for the first vaccine will be satisfied by all healthcare professionals, ambulances, nurses, nursing assistants and volunteers, all those who fight COVID-19 in the front.
“The shipment received next week will be distributed to nursing homes and nursing homes and even later we will provide a booster shot, a second vaccination for all the groups mentioned above. We have already agreed on a list that includes all groups in society, ”said A. Dulkys.
First: doctors, then patients
Council of Experts of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Head of the Group of Personal Medical Care Institutions prof. Laimonas Griškevičius stated that it was necessary to prioritize how vaccination should be carried out.
“Those priorities were to ensure the functioning of personal health care institutions. As you know, medical institutions, especially hospitals, are currently facing the greatest burden of bearing the magnitude of a pandemic and the weakest link has become the Doctors, due to illness, self-isolation is simply a lack of work to provide adequate services to patients.
Therefore, priority was given to treatment facilities. Another priority is to identify other more vulnerable groups, ”said L. Griškevičius.
According to the professor, the logistics of the vaccine now available is complicated because it needs to be transported at extremely low temperatures, so vaccination is only possible in centralized structures.
“The priorities also include the most vulnerable clinical groups: dialysis patients, transplant patients, oncohematological patients, those patients with the most severe COVID-19 infection and the highest risk of mortality from this infection.
VIDEO: At the Vilnius City Clinical Hospital, doctors have started vaccination against COVID-19
Other vulnerable people, patients from nursing and nursing facilities will be vaccinated in the near future. They represent a third and more of all patients admitted to treatment facilities. The outbreaks that are forming in these institutions have been repeatedly reported in the media, thus they have been elevated to a high priority group, which will be vaccinated in the near future, ”said L. Griškevičius.
This will be followed by priority for other vulnerable people, starting with the oldest, as well as those with other diseases. Employees of organized structures and educational institutions will be vaccinated. According to L. Griškevičius, there has been a lot of debate about educational institutions so that they can be opened.
A. Dulkys stated that vaccines from other manufacturers are expected to arrive in Lithuania in the near future. If the number of vaccines increases and priority groups are vaccinated, then everyone will be vaccinated, but this will depend on the number of vaccines, which is not high yet.
There has been much discussion about priority groups, said the minister, but this is not a final decision, the list of those belonging to priority groups can be completed and improved.
L. Griškevičius stated that after consulting with specialists, it was decided not to assign all cancer patients to priority groups. This has resulted in small amounts of vaccines, when more vaccines become available the procedure will be reviewed.
Support the decision to vaccinate more than one vial
L. Griškevičius stated that he strongly supports not five, but six and seven people being vaccinated with a single vial. This would significantly increase the number of people vaccinated.
A.Dulkys added that the European Medicines Agency has already considered this issue, but has not made a decision yet, then there will be more clarity, because the common rules are strictly followed.
According to the schedule now planned to receive vaccines, this year a very rapid advance in the vaccination of a large part of society (70%) is not expected, according to A. Dulkys. However, if vaccines arrive from other manufacturers, the probability will be higher.
VIDEO: 15/15: Minister Dulkys on mass vaccination and the fate of the NVSC leadership
It is recommended not to vaccinate the sick.
Life Sciences Center prof. Aurelija Žvirblienė stated that the latest research shows that patients who develop antibodies have no worse protection than the available vaccine.
“It just came to our knowledge then. What we know about the effects of vaccines is that the protection is the same. The new scientific results allow us to affirm that recurrence creates immunity and we recommend not vaccinating those who relapse,” said A.Žvirblienė .
The vaccination process will probably start on Wednesday, in Vilnius it will probably start on Tuesday. “Right now, according to a publicly available research on how many people are positively accepting the vaccination process, seeing that there are still very few vaccines, we politicians do not really think about exclusive vaccination.
If there is a vision that vaccinating country leaders or other honorable members of society will help make a positive impact on society, perhaps it will be achieved. But this year, doctors or nurses need this vaccine more ”, said the minister about the opportunity to provide a unique opportunity to vaccinate the main leaders of the country.
When it is possible to start mass vaccination of the public against COVID-19 will depend on the delivery schedules of the vaccine, as well as how many more vaccines will be approved in the coming months, the health minister told LRT radio on Tuesday morning. A. Dulkys.
The vaccine shipment was delivered to the warehouses of the Sanitary Emergency Situations Center (ESSC) and placed in ultra-low temperature freezers purchased specifically for these vaccines, which will be stored at -75 degrees. From the ESSC warehouses, they will be transported to five centers that coordinate vaccination in regional medical institutions: Vilnius University Hospital Santara Clinic, Kaunas Clinic of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Klaipėda University Hospital, Šiauliai Republican Hospital, Republican Hospital Panevėžys.
The vaccines will be transported using refrigeration equipment, which ensures the maintenance of a “cold chain” and the traceability of the temperature regime throughout the transport.
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