A medical auxiliary, a doctor, a nurse, an imaging technician and an administrative assistant were, symbolically, the professionals chosen to launch vaccination against COVID-19 , today, around 9h00 a.m., at Hospital Beatriz Ângelo (HBA). As it was explained by the executive director, Artur Vaz, the intention was to mark this historical moment, reminding that “the pandemic requires a team response and the involvement of all professional groups”. The HBA started the vaccination of its professionals with the 455 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine supplied the previous day, December 28, by late afternoon. Today, around 1h00 p.m., 160 professionals had already been vaccinated, 300 being expected to be vaccinated by the end of the day. It should be noted that this first batch of 455 vaccines will allow to immunize nearly 500 professionals, since its preparation by the hospital’s pharmacy services, in the laminar flow chamber and with maximum safety, allows the full use of the vaccine fluid. The vaccination campaign will proceed as soon as more vaccines arrive, until reaching the totality of the hospital’s collaborators. This first stage of anti-Covid-19 vaccination at HBA will take place until tomorrow, englobing the health professionals at higher risk of exposure, which were selected for working in the emergency and inpatient services, intensive care and other areas that receive and treat patients infected with this disease. They all joined in and accepted being vaccinated – however being a voluntary act. The first person to be vaccinated was Ana Vinhas (medical auxiliary in the General Emergency Unit), followed by Bruno Bispo (nurse in the Intensive Care Unit), Paulo Rodrigues (director of the Infectology Service), Vanda Pereirinha (administrative assistant in the General Emergency Unit) and Bruno Órfão (Radiology technician). “The massive vaccination of the Portuguese population is an important step towards resuming normality in the life of all, and represents a significant advance in the safety conditions of health professionals”, points out Artur Vaz, concluding with a general appeal: “Get vaccinated!”.
