The project for Mobile Vaccination Units against Covid-19, initiated in the North, now extends to the rest of the country to reach people with less access to vaccination centres more quickly, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation have announced.
After a pilot phase in the North of Portugal, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation project, carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Health, is now being extended to Alentejo, Algarve, Lisbon and Vale do Tejo e Centro, the institution said in a statement.
Between March 12th and April 11th, the five mobile vaccination units created by the Gulbenkian Foundation tojoin the 'task force' for vaccination against Covid-19 circulated within the North of the country.
According to the institution, the five mobile units travelled 9,680 kilometers to administer 1,188 vaccines to populations with difficulty in accessing normal vaccination centres.
“The circulation of these five units through the North of the country (to which a light vehicle was added) was part of the Gulbenkian pilot project 'Onde é Preciso' and the balance of this phase is clearly positive”, he stresses.
Now, the project has entered another phase, with 15 light vehicles circulating in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, with four vans in the Alentejo, three in the Algarve and eight vans in the center of the country.
The mobile units have never stopped circulating in the North, says the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, announcing that, over the course of this week, 14 more will be delivered to the Northern Regional Health Administration (ARR), thus fulfilling the agreement with the Ministry of Health, of make 50 mobile units available as a way to support the Vaccination Plan against Covid-19.
“The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's vocation has been, since its inception, to be close to the most vulnerable. After launching an Emergency Fund at the beginning of the pandemic, we are now trying to help health authorities and the task force to reach those who have the most difficulty in accessing normal vaccination circuits”, underlined the president of the Gulbenkian Foundation, Isabel Mota, cited in the statement.
“With this project, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation remains where it is needed, similar to what it has done for decades with the itinerant libraries program. It was based on this spirit that he developed this project, in partnership with the Ministry of Health .”
Original article available in Portuguese at http://postal.pt/
Comments
well done to all.