The COVID-19 vaccination process in Vilnius will also be carried out in private clinics: how will it be carried out?

Viktorija Turauskytė, head of the Vilnius City Municipality Health Care Department, says that private medical institutions can accelerate the pace of vaccination and this is now the highest priority.

“According to the latest data, 7.6 thousand people have enrolled in private medical institutions in Vilnius. Patients aged 65 and over. We hope that older people feel confident in their GP, the opportunity to consult a doctor who Knowing the health status of a particular patient will make them feel safer and safer than contacting an unknown specialist at the call center. Therefore, we want to give older people the opportunity to come safely to the clinic of your choice ”, says V. Turauskytė.

Meanwhile, almost 105 thousand public sector medical institutions have been chosen in Vilnius. for patients over 65 years of age, vaccination is organized by the polyclinics Antakalnis, Center, Karoliniškės, Naujininkai, Naujoji Vilnia and Šeškinė.

Gerardas Sakalius, InMedica’s Vilnius Region Director, says he is ready for vaccination.

Vilnius has probably become the first city to decentralize the vaccination of the oldest members of society, involving the private sector. The social dimension and communion, which can act as an accelerator of vaccination during a pandemic, are especially important to us here.

Each city and region chooses the most favorable vaccination model for them, but we hope that the resources of the private sector will also be used efficiently in the future. All the more so because the available skills allow us to come to the rescue immediately, – says G. Sakalius, pointing out that currently all Covid-19 vaccines in Lithuania are free. “After the public information that private medical institutions are involved in the vaccination process, we received many calls from clients and inquiries about the possibility of receiving a paid vaccination, so I want to draw the attention of the public and emphasize that there are no paid vaccines. in Lithuania still “.

This week, all private clinics in Vilnius received vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which will be enough to vaccinate just over a thousand patients.

“It is not much, but it is very important for us to contribute and be part of the process, because we feel a great responsibility to achieve the common goal: to ensure public resistance to the coronavirus as soon as possible,” said a spokesman for the medical network.

Mr. Sakalius says he is confident that the vaccine supply will be regular and the number of doses will gradually increase, giving all older people who want to get vaccinated. Most older people are expected to go to private clinics to get vaccinated.

Due to the significant differences in the storage conditions of the two vaccine manufacturers, patients are encouraged not only to be active but also to be responsible: contact and consult their family doctor and follow exactly the arrival time and other instructions from staff.

At the moment, Pfizer vaccines require extremely low temperatures, around -80 degrees Celsius, for long periods of time, which can only be provided by special freezers. For this reason, the logistics of Pfizer vaccines will be arranged in close collaboration with the Santara clinics, from which the required doses will be taken at the scheduled time and delivered to the site.

And AstraZeneca vaccines do not need such a low temperature for long-term storage, so they will be stored in a recently opened clinic in Naujamiestis, Vivulskio Street. Much of the resources will currently be devoted to the vaccination needs of the public.

The group of the clinic network consists of 18 family medical centers, 3 with a broad profile, 1 specialized cardiology clinic, 2 walk-in clinics and 3 laboratories.