[ad_1]
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, considered today “a silly idea” the proposal that the elderly should not be a priority in vaccination against covid-19, highlighting that “there is still no approved plan.”
“There is no decision, much less a decision that is a foolish decision,” said the head of state, in statements to the Lusa news agency, at the entrance to a lunch with restaurant entrepreneurs in Évora.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that he has accompanied the Prime Minister with the preparatory work on the vaccination plan for covid-19 and stressed that the document, “before being approved, must be presented to the Government” and, subsequently, “The Prime Minister will inform the President of the Republic “.
“What I have seen speculate, in some aspects, is, basically, to say that there are sectors of the Portuguese for their age who do not have urgent or priority access to the vaccine, as I have seen formulated, it is a silly idea,” he said.
The head of state pointed out that “it is presumed that those responsible do not have stupid ideas”, insisting that “so far there is no approved plan” and that “everything that is said is pure technical, scientific, social and political speculation” .
“There is no approved plan, much less the terms that have been announced and that are very different from what has been done or is being done throughout Europe,” he added.
According to a proposal by specialists from the Directorate General of Health, reproduced today in the newspapers, people between 50 and 75 years old with serious illnesses, employees and users of nursing homes and health professionals involved in direct care should be the first in getting vaccinated against covid-19.
In reaction to the news, the coordinator of the working group created by the Government to define the entire vaccination plan against covid-19, Francisco Ramos, explained to Lusa that the proposal presented by the DGS “has no age limit for children. hospitalized people “.
Residents of nursing homes, of any age, employees of these institutions, health professionals, security forces and elderly with serious comorbidities are the priority groups proposed by the DGS for the covid-19 vaccine, declared Francisco Ramos.
Today, the prime minister rejected the possibility that all people older than 75 years without serious diseases did not have priority access to vaccines against covid-19, claiming that “there are technical criteria that can never be accepted by political leaders.”
“It is not allowed to give up protecting life due to age. Lives do not have an expiration date,” António Costa told the Lusa news agency, after being asked about the possibility, reported today by some media, of all the major players . 75 years without comorbidities, being out of priority access to the vaccine against the new coronavirus.
António Costa adds that “there are technical criteria that can never be accepted by political leaders.”
The Government created a working group to coordinate the entire vaccination plan against covid-19, from the vaccination strategy to the logistics operation of storage, distribution and administration of vaccines, it has one month to define the entire process.
A dispatch published on Wednesday in the Diário da República, signed by the ministers of National Defense, Interior and Health, this working group has a six-month mandate, renewable depending on the progress in the operationalization of vaccination against covid- 19.
The working group has a coordination nucleus, led by former Secretary of State Francisco Ramos, which includes elements of the General Directorate of Health, Infarction and the ministries of National and Interior Defense and has the technical support of different structures.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces, the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, the Central Administration of the Health System (ACSS), the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, IP (INÇA), the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health Health (SPMS) and the common use service
[ad_2]
