In the midst of the current surge of COVID-19, "Abdala" represents the greatest hope for Las Tunas inhabitants, which has begun to receive the vaccine this Thursday, as part of the massive immunization campaign for the population over 19 years of age in the provincial capital, the epicenter of the pandemic here.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Nilvia Agüero Batista, the coordinator of the Committee of Experts for this task, explained that it is expected to vaccinate more than 159 thousand inhabitants in the five health areas of this city. Likewise, she reported that 2,380 pregnant women and just over 4,040 mothers who breastfeed will receive the doses in all municipalities.
For carrying out this health mission, 105 vaccination centers were certified in this city, which include a waiting area, medical consultation to examine the volunteers, a vaccination point, and the space for subsequent monitoring of the patients during one hour.
Primary Health Care, she said, will host the process and the family's medical office staff will be in charge of summoning its population. Community actors will participate in the transfer of residents to vaccination centers, especially those with reduced mobility. Meanwhile, bedridden people, who here account for 795, will be vaccinated at home.
Since the arrival of the more than 16,200 bulbs (each one contains 10 doses), the workers of the Wholesale Marketing and Distribution of Medicines (EMCOMED) base business unit in Las Tunas assumed the detailed reception, dispatch, and distribution, without failure to meet the refrigeration requirements - between two and eight degrees Celsius.
Agüero Batista commented that more than 26,200 health workers and other sectors exposed to risk in their daily work have already completed the vaccination schedule, something vital considering that between 14 and 28 days after the last dose is when the immune response against the new coronavirus increases.
Likewise, other patients considered as vulnerable groups have also benefited; among them, long-term residents at the Clodomira Acosta Ferrals Psychiatric Hospital, grandparents of the nursing homes, and nephropathy patients of the Hemodialysis service in "Amancio," Puerto Padre, and Las Tunas.
"Abdala", the first anti-COVID-19 vaccine in Latin America, is one hundred percent effective against systemic disease and death. They are currently studying data on the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the behavior after the application of the second dose.
