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Portugal will not be affected by the logistical problem that caused a delay in the arrival of the first batch of vaccines to several European countries, including Spain, which will only receive the immunizers this Tuesday, one day later than expected.
The Minister of Health, Marta Temido, said this Monday, apart from a visit to the Curry Cabral Hospital, that Portugal was not affected “by this disorder” and that it received the 70,200 vaccines that were scheduled on Monday. and that, in addition to hospitals, they will begin to reach primary care units. New deliveries are expected to be made every week in January.
“What we had planned from the beginning is that there would be deliveries on the 28th, which have not yet finished, and we know that this is a complex process from a logistical point of view”said the official, alluding to the delay of the second delivery already reported in Spain.
Marta Temido explained that this delivery “has already materialized in part at the Oporto airport” and that it will also be distributed “for the continuation of this vaccination process in more hospitals of the National Health Service and also in the first primary care units of health”. “from the country.
“We are still waiting for the transport, which is expected to be direct, to the Azores archipelago and the Madeira archipelago.”added the minister, who indicated that Portugal expects to receive “79,950 deliveries every four weeks in January” and that he is convinced that the country “will be able to overcome these circumstances that today affect some countries.”
Even so, the 9,750 doses of the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNtech destined for the Autonomous Region of Madeira will not reach the archipelago until the morning of Thursday, December 31, anticipates JM-Madeira.
Although the forecasts of the State and the Regional Government pointed at the beginning of this week to the delivery period of the vaccines reserved for the region at this stage of the initial vaccination phase in Portugal, there was a delay.
At stake, the newspaper advances, is the requirement of the German biotechnology company BioNtech to control all aspects related to the transport procedure, since the Provincial Council will have made available means to speed up the delivery process of the first batches of the vaccine .
The Government of Madeira does not yet have an exact date to receive the first batch of vaccines, the president of the executive said on Monday, estimating, however, that the arrival could occur on Wednesday or Thursday.
“I don’t know when they will arrive. The vaccines were scheduled to arrive today [segunda-feira], but the Pfizer technician is already here giving instructions and right now Pfizer is going to say when they arrive. We are waiting for this information “Miguel Albuquerque told the media, on the sidelines of a visit to the Regional Civil Protection Service.
The official stressed that the vaccines are likely to arrive in Madeira on December 30 or 31.
“We have six hours to thaw the vaccines and start administering them. We are just waiting for information from Pfizer.”he added.
Asked by the DN about the exact date of arrival of the vaccine to Madeira, a source from Pfizer said that “these matters are confidential.”
The first batch of vaccines will arrive in the Azores until this Tuesday. “The supplier has already informed that the delivery will be made on the 28th or 29th of this month, the only thing left is to tell us on which flight the batch of vaccines will be transported,” said the regional secretary of Health, Clélio Meneses, quoted by East of the Azores.
Pfizer Spain reported this Monday that “tonight it has been informed by its factory in Puurs (Belgium) of the delay in shipping to eight European countries, including Spain, due to a problem in the loading and shipping process.”
The European Union purchased a total of 200 million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech.
