Opinion: Scandalous Mishandling of Vaccinations in Portugal

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (Opinion) Mayors, nursing homes managers, social security and National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM) officials are involved in several reported cases of undue vaccination in various parts of the country, some of which are under investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The most controversial case occurred in the Setúbal District Social Security Institute (ISS), whose director, Natividade Coelho, resigned on January 29th, following a report published the day before that 126 public servants had been unduly vaccinated.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, investigations have also been opened concerning the Lisbon and Oporto INEM cases.

Both cases were denounced on January 28th by the National Association of Emergency and Civil Protection, which disclosed that the president of INEM, Luís Meira, “contravened the Ministry of Health’s instructions and vaccinated dozens of non-essential workers who are not healthcare professionals.” It has been reported that the president of INEM “ordered extra vaccine doses to immunize the institute’s employees, service providers, and outsourced collaborators, among them his personal friends, in violation of the vaccination plan’s guidelines” against Covid-19.

In recent days, alleged misuse of vaccines has also come to light at the Portimão Elderly Support Center (whose governing bodies were included in the priority list), and in the Narciso Ferreira Hospital, in Vila Nova de Famalicão, (whose administrator included his daughter and wife in the priority list).

Moreover, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating the Santa Casa da Misericórdia nursing home in Bragança, where “all governing bodies have been vaccinated”, and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Montijo, whose chairman included his wife in the vaccination list.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has already launched at least nine inquiries for misuse of the vaccine against Covid-19, said an Attorney General’s Office (PGR) official source.

The Ministry of Health considered any misuse of vaccines against Covid-19 “unacceptable,” alerting that this deed could be considered a crime, and urged the task force to prepare a list of other priority individuals – this was when the Portuguese realized that this list was not yet in place.

The flop

A few months ago, the news of the arrival of Covid vaccines finally brought us some sense of relief. How gullible we are. The vaccine would solve the pandemic for good. So one would expect.

Having received the vaccines, not only is the Covid pandemic light years away from being solved, but as soon as they began to be administered, we had a surge of “It’s every man for himself” pandemic cases.

We can’t honestly claim that we were taken by surprise. From mistakes in introducing the plan, failing so much as to set dates, to the mess over priority groups (which listed no elderly, began to list them under pressure from the European Union, included no politicians at all, and then included far too many), it was only a matter of time before reaching the start of the second phase with no indication as to who should be vaccinated in Healthcare centers.

On July 15th last year, Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa said that the country would not be able to withstand another harsh lockdown and, as such, preparations for winter were critical.

Just think what it would be like if winter hadn’t been prepared for? I don’t know. Maybe 14,000 new cases and over 200 deaths per day? On Tuesday, February 2nd, the Portuguese General Directorate of Health recorded 260 deaths and 5,540 coronavirus infections in 24 hours.

On December 21st, as a result of the UK strain that the government now says it was unaware of, a mandatory negative test was imposed on travelers from Britain. Between January 24th and 31st, 2,288 Portuguese died of Covid. A snapshot of the country today. It will get worse. Unfortunately. Managed by a government that lies. It lies compulsively, incapable of accepting any observation or criticism, however constructive it may be. It lies without ever taking any responsibility. Whatever and wherever it may be.

Nowadays, the lack of control is overwhelming. Even the vaccine task force needs a task force to get priority groups vaccinated. Nowadays, after years of watching young doctors and nurses emigrate, the National Health Service imports doctors and exports patients. Nowadays, it is accepted that the state of emergency may be extended until Summer.

Portugal ranks bottom of the list among the countries with the lowest percentage of the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine administered in the European Union (EU) since the start of immunization, according to data published on Monday, February 1st, by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

With 1.6%, it is better only than The Netherlands (1.5%), Latvia (1.1%), Cyprus (0.9%) and Slovakia (0.5%). Portugal has received 338,290 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, having administered 166,658 for the first dose.

Meanwhile, controversies over vaccination outside priority groups make headlines. Every single day.