The first patients to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Kaunas clinics: there were also doubts

Šarūnas Mačinskas, head of the Kaunas Clinics Outpatient Coordination Service, spoke at the remote press conference about the vaccination of staff and patients at this medical institution on Thursday.

Vaccinated 5 patients

According to Š. Mačinskas, 3,000 employees of the Kaunas clinics should get vaccinated on Thursday.

As a hospital spokesperson noted, patients with chronic kidney disease are also being vaccinated and receiving hemodialysis. There are 73 such patients in the Kaunas region, as well as 11 patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.

“Yesterday the first 5 patients were vaccinated, today another 10 patients from that group have already been vaccinated. Of all the patients in this group, 11 have a history of COVID-19, have antibodies, and are therefore not currently vaccinated. It was discussed with 45 patients that they would like to be vaccinated and that the work should be done within the next 3 business days, ”Š said. Machinsk.

Of all the patients interviewed, according to the hospital representative, 5 are skeptical, they have not yet expressed their desire to be vaccinated.

Not only Kaunas residents will be vaccinated in Kaunas

Furthermore, according to Š. In Mačinskas, the hospital has around 340 patients, of whom 73 in Kaunas city and 19 in Kaunas district have had organ transplants. The vaccination of this group of patients also began on Thursday, there are already 10 such vaccinations on Friday and it is planned to vaccinate about 40 more people from this group.

Like Š. Mačinskas, was contacted not only with people living in Kaunas, but also with people in the Kaunas region who were offered vaccinations. One of these patients lives in the Skuodas district. The hospital cannot yet give a specific answer on how long the vaccination will last.

“As for patients with oncohematological diseases, we have currently selected a group after bone marrow transplantation that, according to various recommendations, could be vaccinated 3-6 months after the procedure. Currently work is being done, the condition of the patients is being evaluated and the specialists will make decisions about them in the near future ”, said a representative of the hospital.

The next group in the vaccine series are patients with immunodeficiency diseases and deficiencies in antibody production. 5 people in this group have already been vaccinated.

The vaccination process itself, according to Š. Machinsko, going smoothly, there were no serious side effects.

Vaccination of regional hospital employees has also begun

The head of the service also recalled that the Kaunas clinics are responsible not only for vaccinating their hospital staff, but also for vaccinating staff from other hospitals located in the Kaunas region. According to him, the vaccination by the staff of the regional hospital has already begun from the second batch of vaccines, and it is planned how the work will continue.

“We fully meet the vaccination needs of the region. How many employees do they have, according to the established criteria?” Said Š. Machinsk.

According to the head of the service, the Šakiai ambulance workers have already been vaccinated, and vaccination is also starting at the ambulance stations in Kaunas city and Kaunas district.

1,300 doses were administered to the patients.

It is currently tentatively planned that 1,300 doses will be administered for the vaccination of patients in the Kaunas region.

At this time, according to Š. In Machinsk, about 25 patients are vaccinated.

“Of the healthcare workers who work directly with patients, our need to vaccinate all of them is 3,996 doses,” said a hospital spokesman.