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At a time when many Portuguese are still waiting for seasonal flu vaccines to be available on the market, the Minister of Health, Marta Temido, could not have been clearer: “There are no more vaccines available on the world market”, he warned, in an interview. this morning, to the PS podcast, broadcast live on social media.
“It is important that people realize that only those who have criteria should be vaccinated (…). I did not get vaccinated, some will have done it without criteria, “he declared, thus justifying the shortage of vaccine supply given the demand that is being registered.
These days, Portugal is still waiting for 200,000 doses of the flu vaccine to arrive in the country, which “will arrive at the end of this month of November, at the latest,” according to the Health official. When this happens, Portugal will see the completed batch of two million doses of vaccines that it acquired in the world market, where “the availability of the vaccine is not infinite,” according to Temido.
To those two million doses are added another 500 thousand doses purchased directly by pharmacies. And, currently, the country already has 1.4 million vaccines administered. “There are still 440,000 doses of vaccines that, according to the latest data, are still in values and that, therefore, they will be in different parts of the country to be managed ”, described Marta Temido.
In October Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that the Health Minister assured him that there would be no shortage of vaccines, the 2.5 million doses purchased in total would have been sufficient “for the vaccination that the country normally carries out. “What is a fact is that this year we had a demand from people who normally do not seek to be vaccinated, since health professionals who this year have massively adhered to vaccination and who, in previous years, did not want to be vaccinated”, justifies. .
In addition to vaccination requests, the increased demand for the seasonal flu vaccine is based on the belief that it may be associated with an improved immune response to the new coronavirus.
Covid-19 vaccine: the elderly, the sick, and healthcare professionals first
As for the vaccine against the new coronavirus, which the Government hopes to begin distributing in January, provided that, as the European drug agency says that it will be available for distribution, Marta Temido said that the first to be vaccinated should be “people above a certain age, with associated comorbidities, health professionals and essential services and eventually also social services professionals ”.
Later, and specifying that among these priority groups are institutionalized elderly and security and civil protection professionals, the minister added that the technical commission for vaccination against covid-19 has already been appointed. This team, which in addition to the ministerial services and the General Health Directorate, includes specialists such as the epidemiologist Manuel Carmo Gomes, the virologist Raquel Moreira, the immunologist Luís Graça, and several representatives of the pharmacies and the nursing sector, is coordinated by the doctor. of internal medicine Válter Fonseca.
This will be the group in charge of contributing to the elaboration of the vaccination strategy against covid-19 to be adopted and, by indicating the priority groups, Temido relied on the fact that Portugal was preparing to follow in this matter “the generality of thought and evidence from other countries “. “The concrete definition of what is within these categories and the prioritization of each of these categories must now be better specified and that is what the technicians are working on,” he added, including the preparation of the computerized registry for the administration and registry of vaccines. ”. possible adverse reactions ”.
Covid-19 patients in the private and social sector only in the North
When asked how many “covid and non-covid” patients were referred from the NHS to the private and social sectors, Temido said he had no data available, but noted that the region covered by the Northern Regional Health Administration (ARS) is the only one in the whole country where private hospitals and grants were available to receive patients infected with the new coronavirus. “We have been insisting every day with all regions to actively carry out this search [de disponibilidade] and what we have available so far are the responses from the Fernando Pessoa Foundation, the Hospital da Trofa -which will be activated on the 23rd- of CUF Porto and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Póvoa de Lanhoso and Lousada: these are the hospitals that responded to the treatment of covid patients ”, he stated.
Temido refused to comment when asked if private health groups would be more interested in collaborating on what gives them the most benefit: surgery, for not wanting to contribute to “the blister of the ideological issue.” “The important thing for the Ministry of Health at this time is to find answers for users, and that is why the motivations of each one are at the door.”
During the interview, Marta Temido also had time to ensure that the extraordinary subsidy for health professionals who were in the front line will be paid at the end of this year. “We are this week and the next to finalize the steps necessary for its mission,” he said.
Approved on July 1, this subsidy is intended for all health professionals who directly contact covid patients, in addition to those infected and suspected of being infected by the new coronavirus, and must be paid every two months, but cannot exceed the 219 euros, half of the social support index (IAS).
