Paraguay restores order in vaccination after chaos at centers

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Vaccination centers against the coronavirus in Paraguay restored order on Wednesday after the chaos experienced the day before in some of them, when people over 75 years of age came without an appointment to be immunized.

This situation takes place within the framework of a slow vaccination campaign and with the country peaking in contagions and the health system overwhelmed by this increase.

Lida Sosa, Vice-Minister of Health and Surveillance, on Wednesday asked her compatriots to go to the vaccination centers only if “they are scheduled,” otherwise they will not be given the dose.

On Wednesday, Sosa visited the Hospital Materno Infantil de Trinidad, in Asunción, one of the centers authorized for the vaccination, which took place “in a calmer and more orderly manner than yesterday.”

In view of this operation, the Vice-Minister explained to the media that the number of medical brigades was the same as on Tuesday, with the difference that only those people who had been scheduled are being vaccinated, which means that “greater order is achieved and that the waiting time (to receive the dose) is also shorter.”

“What this scheduling system does is that we can have a more orderly vaccination system and control the stock of our vaccines,” he said.

The computerized registration for vaccination is also causing inconveniences among older adults, unfamiliar with these systems, with vision problems or without electronic devices or internet connection to manage their appointment.

The health authorities maintain the telephone line 154 enabled for those who cannot register on the platform, although they also request the help of family members or people close to them to process the procedure online.

Sosa pointed out that they are still working on computer improvements to ensure that people get their appointment in the nearest vaccination center to their homes, since in some cases, when the quota is already covered, they are sent to others farther away.

The vice-minister reminded that registration in the platform does not mean having an appointment for vaccination, but simply having made the registration.

For this reason, she reminded all the people waiting for their vaccination appointment that they should receive the confirmation message with the time and place.

In this sense, he insisted that for the moment, vaccination is being given to people over 75 years of age, so that all those below that age will not yet receive any notification.

Paraguay is still in stage 1 of the vaccination campaign, and has already administered doses against the coronavirus to 94,809 people, according to Ministry data.

With the arrival of more vaccines in the coming months, Paraguay expects to accelerate the pace of immunization and start setting up mass vaccination centers, although Sosa warned that this modality may cause “doses to be lost”.

While waiting for the vaccines, the country has seen the number of infections and deaths soar in recent months, especially since the entry of the Brazilian variant into the country.

Paraguay, a country with just over 7 million inhabitants, has registered 271,814 infections since March 2020 to date, with 6,094 deaths and 223,606 recovered, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health.