The vaccination plan, in partnership with the Grouping of Health Centres of Greater Porto VI - Porto Oriental, - whose area of influence corresponds to the civil parishes of Bonfim, Campanhã and Paranhos, in the city of Porto - begins on Monday, day March 8, after an effort to reorganize and adapt the space, following the guidelines of the Directorate-General of Health (DGS).
The COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVC) should have, as a reference, one or more vaccination modules, each with five posts, so that each nurse can vaccinate one person every 6-10 minutes. The centres usually have the capacity to vaccinate about 50 people per hour, a recovery room and a doctor in case of adverse reactions.
The PORTIC estimates the vaccination of 500 users per day. In this first phase, users over 80 years of age will be vaccinated and the remaining users will be part of the first priority group. After April, the remaining priority groups are expected to follow.
The centre will operate between 8 am and 8:30 pm, and may, if necessary, extend the activity until 9 pm.
The space to be made available has ten vaccination points and is adapted to the specifics of the three vaccines currently available in Portugal: Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. 15 health professionals (eight nurses, four assistants and a doctor) will be present, trained to vaccinate and act in case of anaphylactic reactions and emergency equipment to treat these situations.
It also has a reception area, with a service station and access to the health information system, allowing to validate the data of the people to be vaccinated and a pre-vaccination waiting area that allows the stay with the respective safety distance and where the vaccination questionnaire should be filled out.
“This is yet another initiative by the Polytechnic of Porto in the fight against COVID-19, making equipment and infrastructure suitable for the vaccination process currently underway,” explains João Rocha, President of the Polytechnic of Porto. “The fight against the pandemic is a challenge that we must face together, and it is crucially important to support health professionals in speeding up the vaccination process.
“During the past year, we have been facing some of the biggest challenges of our lives. At the Polytechnic of Porto, teachers, researchers, students and other members of the community have mobilized since an early stage to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, responding with solidarity and knowledge to the needs of the country and the community. This is one of our great commitments ”- concludes the president.
We recall that the collaboration of the Polytechnic of Porto with the Regional Health Administration of the North (ARS-Norte) in the fight against COVID-19 is not new. During 2020, the PORTIC's Medical and Industrial Biotechnology Laboratory was integrated into the National Diagnostic Network of COVID-19, having already performed more than 18 thousand tests.
