The two largest clinics in the country disagree on the distribution of vaccines: they questioned if everything was done fairly

Currently, 3 shipments of coronavirus vaccines have already arrived in Lithuania. The first shipment arrived immediately after Christmas on December 26, at 3 pm There were about 10,000 doses. As reported at the time, they were to be distributed as follows: 3,000 vaccines for Vilnius, 3,000 for Kaunas, about 2,000 for Klaipėda, and 1,000 vaccines for Šiauliai and Panevėžys.

From the first shipment, 3 hospitals had to be vaccinated in the Vilnius region, 11 in the Kaunas region, 4 in Šiauliai, 1 in Panevėžys and 9 in the Klaipėda region.

On December 28, the second shipment of vaccines arrived, containing a little over 10,000 doses.

And on January 4, the third shipment, the largest of the three, arrived in Lithuania. It reportedly contained more than 20,000 vaccines.

The first vaccination took place the day after the first shipment was received, on December 27. However, as soon as the vaccination procedures began, the doctors spoke about various organizational problems. One of them is the disproportionate regional distribution of vaccines.

Many doctors are still waiting for vaccines

As Prof Andrius Macas, a professor at the Kaunas Clinics of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) wrote on Facebook last week, many doctors are still looking forward to vaccines.

“In the afternoons, my doctors call and ask, maybe where are they? Four. New doses are needed. Here and now. Those who want to get vaccinated will stretch those who don’t. In our clinic, as in all other hospital resuscitation departments that work with COVID patients, doctors and nurses with assistants leave home with the simple thought of “I can’t anymore.” Not just from fatigue, but from despair. In resuscitation, the most seriously ill people lie and fall like leaves, no matter what the doctors take. <...> In severe cases, the virus spreads almost without remedy ”, shared the doctor.

Prof. Mac also shared a heartbreaking story about his sick colleagues.

“The sick doctor says: ‘Don’t hesitate, be good.’ And you intubate. Today, two more doctors. Amazing. One of them first flew to homes in a district of Užnemunė, the other, a charming associate professor of pediatrics, counseled the children until they fell ill. He counseled my three and 13 year old daughter. Help. Just a month ago. Now intubated. No matter how many new resuscitations we open, they will be full, and if they are not, it will not be easier for the patient and the staff who work on it. Let’s take a look at the results of COVID resuscitation treatment in Europe and the world, “wrote the professor.

According to him, in order for the situation to improve at least a little as soon as possible, it is necessary that as many doctors as possible be vaccinated. According to the doctor, Lithuania has arguments why we need more doses of the vaccine, because the figures in Lithuania are currently very high. The professor also hypothesizes why the situation could have deteriorated so abruptly.

“Perhaps all this is not due to government errors in October and November, it is possible that a new mutation of the virus has already spread in Lithuania. Because in London it began to spread to the eastern part of the city, where our Lithuanians and other emigrants from Central and Eastern European countries live. Of course, this has yet to be tested. I agree. By the way, more than 4 thousand compatriots returned during this period, which, as they say, we will definitely have business. So we have the most objective arguments as to why we need the vaccine now: we are the first in Europe. Hard argument. You have to wave like a flag, “said the doctor, adding that these arguments should be made before the European Union, which could prescribe more doses of vaccines.

Did Kaunas give more to the regions than Vilnius?

Another important problem highlighted by prof. A. Macas, this is a disproportionate distribution of vaccines to the regions of Lithuania. According to him, organizing this process must be extremely fair and transparent. The professor also presents specific figures from which it can be assumed that most of the vaccines remained at the Santara clinic in the Vilnius region, and fewer were received in this region than in Kaunas.

As prof. A. Macas, Vilnius has given 200 doses to Alytus, although 52,000 people live here, at that time Kaunas, at the request of its support hospital in Marijampolė, prescribes 350, although Marijampolė has 34,000 inhabitants.

The doctor continues writing the numbers: “Varėna (7,900 inhabitants) under the auspices of the capital (7,900 inhabitants), if I am not mistaken, I did not receive it at all (if I am wrong, I have no doubt, I will correct myself). Under the influence of the temporary capital Šakiai (5000), which is smaller than Varėna, it receives 65. I am in favor of Marijampolė and Šakiai receiving even more. I am in favor of large hospitals being vaccinated en masse with all staff, but can some centers not be vaccinated? And after all, there is nothing worse than oppressing the little ones. Especially now, especially now, people have a critical need for transparency. “

As Delfi told prof. A. Macas, the Kaunas clinics did not vaccinate all the doctors who needed the vaccine. According to him, only those who have been in contact with people with coronavirus during resuscitation while they were vaccinated have been vaccinated. And others who also face the infection directly but work outside of resuscitation, are still waiting for vaccines.

The interviewee also mentions that Kaunas Clinics is a larger hospital than Santara Clinics. The Kaunas clinics have 7,275 employees and the Santara clinics, according to Sodra, have 6,278 employees.

However, according to the interlocutor, the Kaunas clinics managed to give more vaccines to the region and save less for them.

“The number of doses received is the same. But the Kaunas Clinics, although they were a larger hospital, left less for their hospital and gave more to the region, so the region was not forgotten. Everyone in the region received as much as they asked for, or even a little more, ”said the doctor.

Dr. Mac emphasizes that more attention should be paid to a high degree of transparency and openness, which would allow the same criteria to be applied in all areas of the country. Only in this case would people living in various Lithuanian cities and working in the medical field be discriminated against.

“There is such discrimination: living in one county is better than another. Would you like to live in Varena, which has not received any vaccinations? You have probably heard a long time ago that Vilnius and the rest of Lithuania exist; there is a big difference between them. . I don’t feel sorry for the vaccines. All my friends are in Vilnius and I want them to be safe to get vaccinated. But we have to play fair, “said the interlocutor. – It happened as it happened. But it is very important that the next distribution of the shipment, that It will be this week, be transparent and uniform. We hope that these possible doubts will be dispelled and shared more fairly in the future. “

According to the Santara clinics, very few vaccinations have been received

The Santara Clinic of the Vilnius University Hospital also presented its position. According to his letter, the Vilnius region has a population of 954,780 and the Kaunas region has a population of 699,548. When calculating the vaccines received per 100,000 inhabitants: The Vilnius region received 306 doses / 100,000 inhabitants, Kaunas – 418 doses / 100,000 inhabitants.

“The Vilnius region has established the largest number of beds for the treatment of patients with COVID disease, almost 1/3 of all beds in Lithuania, even exceeded the recommendations specified in the SAM. Santara Clinic, Vilnius City Clinical Hospital and Vilnius University Hospital are the institutions in the Vilnius region that have established the highest number of COVID beds, the number of beds is about 80%. Beds of the Vilnius region “, – writes in the comment of the Santara clinics.

According to Santara Clinics, all the listed hospitals and M. Marcinkevičius Hospital are the main institutions in the city of Vilnius, also providing emergency care to patients who do not have COVID-19.

“Kaunas Clinics treats only Covid patients in the Resuscitation and Intensive Care Unit, directing them to their Kaunas Hospital for active treatment,” the comment reads.

As Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys said at a press conference on Tuesday, these misunderstandings were likely due to the extremely small number of doses in the first batch.

“I try to guess that the misunderstandings from the first shipment, or the belief that there were some misunderstandings, could be due to the fact that overall there were few vaccines. Also, let’s not forget that there are quirks of their cold path and certain quirks of packaging, so they are not so easy to distribute. I have no doubt that now the second and third shipments will be delivered in such a way that there will be no similar fears, ”said A. Dulkys.

At the same lecture, Professor Laimonas Griškevičius, Head of the Group of Personal Health Care Institutions of the Council of Experts of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, who works at the Santara Clinics, also spoke about the situation.

“I would like to say briefly that the Vilnius region is the most numerous region in the country in terms of population; almost a million people live here, which is one third. And divided by the number of inhabitants, the Vilnius region received significantly less vaccine doses than Kaunas or Klaipeda. Regarding the division, the aim was to guarantee the Vilnius region COVID services and the operation of emergency hospitals. For this reason, the vaccine doses were divided by approximately 30% for all major hospitals in the Vilnius region. from the number of their staff. Another important thing is that I would really consider this peripheral issue, because with this vaccine that is coming, basically all the doctors who want it will get vaccinated. We hope this it happens in the near future, maybe next week, “said prof. L. Griškevičius.

Delfi recalls that it is already known that from now on, regular weekly shipments of coronavirus vaccines worth 20,000 will arrive in Lithuania. 475 doses. At a conference Tuesday, Dulkys said there were ongoing discussions with manufacturers, so these volumes may change, but are expected to increase.

“Together with last year’s doses, we will be able to fully meet the need for the first vaccination of all ambulance doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, other staff, volunteers, all fighting COVID-19 on the front line,” said A. Dulkys, adding that the shipment received next week will be destined for a nursing home and care.