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The Government presented the national vaccination plan against covid-19 on Thursday. The Executive estimates that the global amount spent on vaccines against Covid-19 could reach 200 million euros in Portugal. In terms of doses, more than 22 million may be needed.
“It is one more step in a work that began many months ago,” Minister Marta Temido said on Thursday at the presentation of the national vaccination plan, recalling that Portugal has been following the process carried out by the European Union for development since June. vaccinations
After a brief introduction by Marta Temido, Rui Ivo, president of Infarmed, intervened to explain how the process of purchasing and evaluating vaccines was carried out. The process is the result of a coordinated strategy within the European Union, on which two pillars of action were created: guaranteeing the necessary quantity of vaccines, through various recruitment trials, and the adaptation of the evaluation standards. .
Rui Ivo also said that there are six sentences concluded by the European Commission, noting that the first was made with Astrazeneca, on August 14, in which 6.9 million doses will be for Portugal. Note also for the 4.5 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine destined for Portugal, the 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and the 1.8 million doses of the vaccine for Moderna.
Regarding the evaluation of vaccines, the president of Infarmed reveals that it was done in a different way than usual, the so-called scientific advice, in which there was interaction between the authorities – in this case, the European Medicines Agency – and the companies developing the vaccine. This was done with the aim of saving time, not waiting for the completion of the studies, but starting to receive interim data throughout the trials.
“We are applying normal standards,” said Rui Ivo, who also assured that the administration of the vaccine in Portugal will be controlled.
Priority groups
The vaccine aims to reduce mortality and hospitalizations in intensive care, as well as control outbreaks and minimize the impact on the health system and the economy, said the coordinator of the working group for the vaccination plan, Francisco Ramos.
No first priority group, there are people 50 years of age or older with serious pathologies, such as coronary heart disease, kidney failure, heart failure or respiratory disease, and health professionals, more generally, critical services professionals, which may include the Armed Forces. Residents of nursing homes and long-term care homes, also included in the first phase, will be vaccinated in the institutions.
In this first phase, 950,000 people will be vaccinated between January and April, in the worst case, if the vaccine does not arrive within the expected schedule.
In the second phase, people over 65 years old without any pathology and people between 50 and 74 years old with a wide range of pre-existing diseases, from diabetes, to hypertension and even obesity, will be vaccinated. At this stage, 1.8 million people will be vaccinated.
There will also be a third phase, which will include “the rest of the population.”
Where will the vaccination take place?
Vaccination will be carried out in more than 1,200 health centers, but also at home and in long-term care units, in these two cases the vaccine will be administered by nursing teams.
Homes with nursing teams will also be able to manage them at the institution.
“We really have a light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Prime Minister, António Costa, who was accompanying the presentation of the vaccination plan by the working group, closed the ceremony with words of thanks.
“We have a light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is still very long and quite painful,” warned the prime minister.
He also stressed that the 22 million doses that Portugal will acquire will not arrive on the first day and that the criteria presented today are clear and transparent.
The first tranche of the Pfizer vaccine in Portugal should serve 300,000 people
Pfizer’s vaccine against Covid-19 is expected to arrive in Portugal in the first days of January. The first tranche can be used to vaccinate 300,000 people.
On December 29, the conditional marketing of the pharmaceutical vaccine must be approved. The laboratory promised to put the vaccine in Portugal about two or three days later for all countries at the same time.
Upon arrival in Portugal, it must be stored in Coimbra, a place that the Government has indicated for the general storage of all covid vaccines. Its distribution throughout the country must be carried out by land on the continent and by air to the Madeira and Azores regions.
According to the contract with the European Union, member states will receive 25 million vaccines in a first tranche that could reach up to 200 million.
Pharmacies available to integrate vaccination plan
The organizations representing the pharmacies expressed their willingness to contribute to the vaccination of the Portuguese against covid-19, considering that it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health to “make this option.”
According to the joint statement, pharmacists are “scientifically prepared to vaccinate” and administer, annually, more than “one million vaccines and injectables” in the country.
According to the three entities, these professionals “lead with absolute competence” the process of distribution and storage of medicines, which, in the case of covid-19 vaccination, implies “special cold and security conditions, as well as an adequate infrastructure for guarantee the administration, in some cases of two doses, in a short time ”.
