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The distribution of vaccines is managed by the Ministry of Health. Professionals of the Armed Forces vaccinated during the week.
“For us it is the fight of the century, we see it as a national task. It is our population that is at stake and we will do everything possible to help.” This is how Admiral Gouveia e Melo, from the Planning Nucleus of the Armed Forces General Staff, describes how the military is facing the fight against covid-19. He does not speak of war, but quotes Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during World War II: the Portuguese Armed Forces will also give “blood, sweat and tears” for the country.
Gouveia e Melo coordinates the so-called situation room, which monitors the distribution of vaccines against covid-19. Installed on the third floor of the Ministry of Health, in Lisbon, it was visited yesterday by the Minister of Defense, João Gomes Cravinho. He was accompanied by Diogo Serras Lopes, Secretary of State for Health.
In times of pandemic, the corridors of the Ministry become too small for such an influx of media. For this reason, only image reporters followed the minister’s visit.
The rest of the journalists waited, on the ground floor, for Gomes Cravinho to return and announce the news: the 640 health professionals from the Armed Forces – divided between the Military Hospitals of Lisbon, Oporto and the Military Support Center, in Belém , they will begin to be vaccinated “during the next week”.
The official stressed that the situation room “allows to correct and cross very different data”, considering that she has been “responsible for the success of these first two weeks of vaccination.” The space, as journalists would find out minutes later, consists of six cells, all of them coordinated with entities such as the General Directorate of Health (DGS), Infarmados or the different hospitals in the country.
PSP / GNR conflict
One is logistics, which decides the number of vaccines to be allocated to each health center and the routes that transport vans must take. Another, right next to it, is that of strategic communication, which dialogues with hospitals and supports the production of content.
The third cell is in charge of two soldiers from the General Staff of Support to the Decision of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Gouveia e Melo explains the reason why the military is involved in the process: “We bring ways of being and operating in environments of uncertainty, with high stress and complexity.”
The security cell is made up of an element from the PSP and another from the GNR, the vaccination cell has the function of articulating with the DGS and that of the information systems is to standardize the work of all of them. The Secretary of State for Health also has a place in the room, which he occupies to receive reports and make decisions.
Gomes Cravinho considered that the space offers “an excellent guarantee” to combat covid-19. Journalists questioned it: does the recent disagreement between PSP and GNR in Évora over the transport of vaccines prove that there has already been a failure in operations? In a nutshell, a few words: the topic “is the domain of Internal Administration” and there is an ongoing investigation.
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