Secretary of Health, Carlos Mellado, Puerto Rico is one of the jurisdictions of the United States that administers vaccines most efficiently. Govit-19, More than 80% of the quantities received have already been distributed. It was confirmed that about 200 vaccines were lost yesterday.

Of the 270,050 vaccines received, 221,426 have been distributed to island vaccination centers, according to the official. As of yesterday, the administration of 136,682 vaccines has been registered, which is a higher number than reported Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Indicating that only 104,137 of the 311,325 in Puerto Rico were “distributed” used.

“I talked HHS (Federal Department of Health) And CDC people and they are one of the first places in Puerto Rico, areas where vaccines are not stored. The second dose of the first phase is in storage until Thursday. If you analyze refrigerators National Guard There are no vaccines, ”Mellato told a news conference yesterday.

Relying on data provided separately by the CDC and the regions, the Bloomberg media aggregate puts Puerto Rico in the jurisdiction with the 10th lowest percentage of vaccines above states such as North Carolina, Hawaii and Alabama, as well as the Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Palau, the Virgin Islands, and Micronesia. And the territories of the Marshall Islands. Data related to Puerto Rico will appear on the CDC website, in the American Media Gallery.

At this time, the Department of Health It does not have a ‘dashboard’ describing the development of the vaccination process.

According to Bloomberg, North Dakota was the most efficient vaccine state, using 77.1% of those allocated to it. For Puerto Rico, the figure is 50.6% based on the numbers provided by Mellato.

Mellato pointed out that nearly 50,000 vaccines not distributed in Puerto Rico are mainly assigned to the second dose of first-time recipients in late December.

In the last few weeks, Mellato and Jose Reyes, The head of the National Guard, insisted that the CDC was delaying reporting the data. Similarly, Mellato said the amount of vaccines that the CDC declares to be “distributed” for each jurisdiction includes dosages that have not yet arrived.

The Health Secretary stressed that the possibility of achieving what is known as Puerto Rico herd immunity – for which at least 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated – depends on the number of CDC weekly doses next summer. Assign. In that sense, he is referring to the promise of the President-elect. Joe Biden, To dramatically liberalize the flow of vaccines, the number of vaccines distributed weekly in early February is expected to exceed the current 40,000. Of those 40,000, 11,000 are assigned to Walcreens and CVS pharmacy chains, which are responsible for vaccinating the elderly in long-term care centers.

Former State Epidemiologist Angels RodriguezHowever, it was concerned about the risks posed by the Biden administration’s flexibility program, especially with regard to the possibility that not every person vaccinated would have enough supply to use the second dose needed. Pfizer or Moderna.

“It simply came to our notice then. I like to think that a sensible person is going to suggest that it should not be done. Scientific evidence of these two vaccines shows that their success in protecting 94% or 95% of those vaccinated depends on a ‘booster’ (second dose). If we do not give that second ‘booster’, we lose the first. After a certain time the person will not have adequate security. It is an attempt and it will fail. I hope (the new federal administration) will not do that, and if they do, Puerto Rico will not do it, as far as vaccinated states are concerned, ”the epidemiologist said.

The second dose of Pfizer vaccine should be administered within the first 21 days, while in the case of Modern the interval is 28 days.

Complex revenue for face-to-face classes

According to the governor, Rodriguez called for a “reconsideration” of the desire to gradually reopen schools starting in March. Point Pierre Lucy.

“All decisions based on achieving safety, in quotation marks, have been able to avoid infections in the classroom, and I think they should be reconsidered. We are probably at a critical juncture. A strain is spreading, which is very aggressive in terms of transmission. If we do not want to break the health system, avoid spreading. We must be very reasonable in strictly adhering to the recommendations, ”Rodriguez said, noting that the government had done enough work in the early vaccination phase.

According to Mellato, the vaccination process for teaching and non-teaching staff in public and private schools, which began this week, will last “six to eight weeks”, meaning that it will begin and end in mid – March.

“The process of 55,000 teachers and non-teachers between public and private, I do not understand (this is delayed by the slow flow of vaccines). There will be details on how many people, how many staff want to get vaccinated. The plan for opening classes depends on many factors. We always want to establish a specific goal. If we do not have a goal, it can never be done, (going back to schools) depends on many factors and how we will face the cove at that time, ”Mellado said.

Mellato, on the other hand, denied that losing 200 doses of moderna at a vaccination center was part of the vaccine handling system in Puerto Rico. The secretary did not want to specify at which vaccination center the incident occurred, stating that it “does a good job”. Despite efforts since early morning, Mellato was not available to answer Metro’s questions.

“What happened was that the person who received the vaccine box saw that it looked like melted ice. All he did was put the box inside the fridge. When the CDC was consulted, it was recommended that we do not use the vaccine. I want to make it clear that this is the only incident that has happened to Puerto Rico. There was a state with a loss of up to 2,500 doses, ”Mellado told a conference of Home Secretary in Fortaleza.

“It simply came to our notice then. Dealing with this vaccine is very complicated. Even when the second dose comes, it has to be handled differently, ”he added.