Year: 2021

Seven out of ten young people surveyed believe that control or persecution in the relationship is legitimate.

The PSP received more than 2,000 complaints last year about dating violence, most of which were reported by ex-boyfriends, which represented a 5% decrease compared to complaints received in 2019, that police force said on Sunday.

In 2020, 2,006 complaints were registered by the PSP, of which 1,116 related to dating violence between ex-boyfriends and 890 to ongoing dating relationships, “transversal to all age groups”, announced this Sunday, Valentine’s Day, the PSP in a statement, noting that the data are not yet definitive as they are “in consolidation”.

In view of the numbers, PSP says it finds that there was a decrease of about 5% of complaints, compared to the year 2019, years in which it registered 2,100 complaints.

“We believe that the proactive work of the PSP also contributes to this decrease, namely through awareness raising actions with the school community”, he says in the document, concluding that, despite the decrease in the number of actions in the last school year, due to the pandemic and online education, “PSP has managed to get the message across” on this issue.

Early intervention, explains the PSP, is one of the principles of action enshrined in the legislation of minors in Portugal, recognizing the negative effects on the formation of children’s personality when exposed to violence in a family environment.

“The replication of this behaviour in any affective bond and, specifically, in dating relationships, is an indication of the need for specialized intervention “, he says, recalling that violence is neither tolerable nor excusable, but “those who attack need to be helped “.

Violence in dating relationships can be physical, psychological or emotional, social, sexual and economic, and insulting, threatening, offending, assaulting, humiliating, persecuting or debauching intimacy are forms of this violence.

“About 85% of the reports of dating violence presented to the PSP in 2020 involve psychological violence”, he adds, concluding that physical violence is present in 70% of the complaints and that approximately 50% of these cases occur inside the homes, and only 27% on public roads.

During the academic year 2019/2020, within the scope of the Escola Segura Program, the PSP claims to have carried out 1,346 awareness-raising actions on the theme, involving 28,573 students nationwide.

“This proactive work with the school community contributed to the fact that, annually, 40% of the reports of violence in courtship reach the PSP through the Escola Segura Program”, he also says, appealing to the report of violence, whether or not in courtship.

A study by UMAR – Union of Alternative Women and Response to almost 5,000 young people, presented on Friday, concludes that almost seven out of ten young people surveyed find legitimate control or persecution in the dating relationship and almost 60% admitted have already been the victim of violent behaviour .

Data from the 2020 study conclude that 67% of young people consider dating violence to be legitimate, of whom 26% think control is legitimate, 23% persecution, 19% sexual violence, 15% psychological violence, 14% a violence through social networks and 5% physical violence.

Among these nearly 5,000 young people, whose average age is 15 years old, 25% find it acceptable to insult during an argument, another 35% consider it acceptable to enter social networks without authorization, 29% who can be pressured to kiss and 6% even understand that can push / slap without leaving marks.

With regard to gender differences, it is always on the part of boys that legitimation is greatest, with emphasis on the “pressure to have sex” behaviour, where legitimacy among boys (16%) is four times higher than girls (4%).

In the lead up to the renewal of the State of Emergency government are once again gathering to hear from experts and political parties at Infarmed, in Lisbon, to hear the experts take stock of the situation and give advice over the next few days:

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY
André Peralta Santos | Directorate-General for Health

EVOLUTION OF INCIDENCE AND TRANSMISSIBILITY
Baltazar Nunes | National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge

UPDATE OF THE SURVEILLANCE OF GENETIC VARIANTES OF THE NEW CORONAVIRUS IN PORTUGAL
João Paulo Gomes | National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION AND ACTION CRITERIA
Manuel do Carmo Gomes | Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon

EFFECT OF VACCINATION ON INTERNAL AND MORTALITY
Henrique de Barros | Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto (Videoconference)

SOCIAL PERCEPTIONS ABOUT COVID-19 AND MORTALITY IN A HOSPITAL CONTEXT
Carla Nunes | National School of Public Health, Universidade Nova de Lisboa

POINT OF VIEW OF THE VACCINATION PLAN AGAINST
COVID-19
Henrique Gouveia e Melo | Task Force Coordinator for the Vaccination Plan against COVID-19 in Portugal

Minister of Health opens the session, explaining that experts are in the room, but politicians are following online – for the first time. Therefore, the usual reactions of parties and MPs will have to be postponed.

DGS

André Peralta Santos, from the Directorate-General for Health, begins by saying that the country started a downward path, peaking on January 29 – with 1669 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. The weekly change is minus 29%. The downward trend was accentuated.

DGS: containment works, also against new variant. Situation has improved, but is still alert

Most municipalities remain at high risk of transmission.

In early January, the epidemic was booming. At this time only in Madeira there is no decrease in transmission – but with a much lower incidence of departure.

In the North, the January period was very similar to November and December – the same pattern also for hospitalizations in terms of hospitalizations and ICU. Already in Lisbon and Tagus Valley, had “growing quite fast in a short period”, with acceleration to 30 January. But in the last week there has already been a general decrease (even at higher levels). As for hospitalizations and mortality, the phenomenon is the same.

At this time, all ages have a decreasing trend.

The age groups above 60 years are the ones that cause the greatest concern for hospitalizations – with very high incidences above 80 years, yet with no decrease between 60 and 80.

The total hospitalizations already have peak training indication, but still no clearly defined trend.

In terms of mortality, “what we see is a very significant increase during January – almost three times compared to December, but already with a clear formation of a peak in the first week of February”.

As for the new variant, this is the state of play: a progression of cases, with a greater focus on the Lisbon and Tagus Valley regions, with a focus on the Alentejo Litoral and Coimbra region. The North is less prevalent.

Here, then, are the conclusions: the incidence remains “extremely high”, although decreasing. “This level of confinement seems sufficient to stop the spread, including the new variant.”

Rt is 0.82 in Portugal

There would have been 120 cases of the English variant, but “exponential growth” was avoided

João Paulo Gomes, from the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, says that the English, Brazilian and South African variants have “a common mutation”, which makes them much more transmissible.

In Portugal, since the beginning of December, more than 200 thousand tests have been carried out, about 40 thousand positive. Of these, 9 thousand were of the British variant. The expert estimates that, between December 1 and February 7, there were “more than 120 thousand” cases of this variant in Portugal.

However, he said there was “great news” : although it was predicted that, from January to February, the number of cases of this strain would rise from 8% to 65%, these are only about 16% of the total cases . In other words, “we have completely deviated” from these projections, moving from the possibility of “exponential growth” to a “plateau” situation.

Still, João Paulo Gomes expressed some concern about the new California variant , which he says may be more resistant to antibodies and seems to represent, for now, 6.8% of cases in Portugal. “We will be attentive”, guaranteed.

Risk of infection, in January, rose in the 20-30 age groups and over 80.

Manuel Carmo Gomes, from the University of Lisbon, now takes the floor.

Confirming what was disclosed by Baltazar Nunes, he concluded that the risk of infection, in January, rose in the 20-30 age groups and over 80.

Between 7 and 15 January, the speed of the increase in cases stabilized, the result of the first measures in January. As of January 22 (general confinement), the decline is evident, says the expert.

“About 70% of the population should be vaccinated by the end of September”

Henrique de Barros, from the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto, said that if it is assumed that “” 70% of the Portuguese population will be vaccinated by the end of September “, we can expect to leave the current situation” at the end of Summer”.

In a scenario in which vaccination is 90% effective and takes place at the rate initially foreseen – an optimistic hypothesis, admitted Henrique de Barros -, “we saved 3500 lives until the end of September”.

The Minister of Health concluded

The current level of confinement is having an effect – including the number of hospitalizations, at a later stage, intensive care and deaths. Effects also on the control of new variants: “circulation estimates were 60% at the moment, but we managed to reduce their prevalence”;

For the Minister of Health, “it is quite clear that the greater the intensity of the confinement, the faster the reduction of the risk of transmission”. The effects of the measures, he acknowledges, “were different after the first measures of the January 21 aggravation”;

“Although these measures are producing results, it is quite evident that the current confinement has to be prolonged for a longer time, for now, but probably for a period of 60 days from the beginning . Having been mentioned that this will be what will allow us to CI below 200 beds and incidence below 60 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. The incidence level is still extremely high ”, admitted Marta Temido.

The minister noted a “high intention of the population to be vaccinated, an important indicator for the country’s recovery, but that must be read with the shortage of vaccines that we are facing”. At this moment, noted the minister, Portugal has contracts signed to receive 4 million in the first quarter, but “we are only sure of the delivery of 1.9 million vaccines”.

Marta Temido now advocates extending and multiplying massive testing. “Testing and screening are essential,” he says, including the use of “rapid antigen tests” here. In this sense, the minister says that she will “insist on the DGS” to redefine the “technical criterion for extending testing”, in the sense of “testing contacts, regardless of their degree of risk”. “The Ministry of Health has already asked DGS for this, to assess this possibility, which we consider to be a good opportunity. If someone has been in contact with a positive case, let them always benefit from a test. We don’t have a testing problem today, there is a strengthening of public and private testing capacity. ”

Meeting finished 1230 hrs

APAV requests for help to the Internet Safe Line, to support victims of cybercrime and reporting illegal content, increased 575.49% between 2019 and 2020, with a peak in calls in March. last year.

According to data released today, the Internet Safe Line received 587 phone calls from cybercrime victims between January and December 2020, while between January and December 2019 102 contacts were received, an increase of 575.49% compared to APAV reflects “this time of pandemic”.

“In our opinion, it is due to the fact that not only do people spend more time online, because often circumstances dictate it, either through the telescope or telework, as people who were not online before and were not so aware of issues related to cybersecurity, which made them the target of some type of computer security incident ”, explained the responsible for the Internet Safe Line, Ricardo Estrela.

Among the 1,164 contacts – including requests for help and complaints of illegal content – received by the Internet Line in the twelve months of 2020, there was a peak in calls in March, when the line received 154 calls, against the 83 received in January and 119 in February.

Among the crimes, or other forms of violence, most reported, the threat stands out, with 172 cases, which represents 29.3% of the 587 calls, with situations of defamation or insult (45), bullying (10), debauchery privacy (18), illegal recording and photos (31) or ‘sextortion’ (34), a term that joins the words ‘sex’ (sex) and ‘extortion’ (extortion) and which happens when someone threatens to release personal content and requires sexual favors or the payment of money for not doing so.

“In threats, we are talking mainly about threats via social networks and the most common threat is the dissemination of intimate images or videos, which ends up not falling into the category of ‘sextortion’ because there is no underlying monetary contribution”, explained Ricardo Estrela .

According to the official, these are situations that normally happen in the context of intimate relationships, whether dating relationships that have some duration in time, or sporadic relationships, through online platforms “in which people were enticed to share some type of image. and then they are blackmailed or threatened who, if they do not send or do anything, suffer reprisals ”.

Ricardo Estrela said that over the last year it was possible to detect some changes in the way of acting in relation to a certain type of crime, namely in the case of threats, ‘sextortion’, wanton privacy or illegal recordings or photographs.

“What we noticed during the year 2020 is that it has become a phenomenon with an increasing increase in the number of cases, mainly, but not only, of Portuguese women who started to be exposed in private groups, either on chat platforms ‘, even on file sharing platforms ”, he pointed out, adding that in 2019“ it didn’t happen ”.

It also revealed that there have also been “many threats via social network or via instant messaging platforms (sms, whatsapp), where there are also many threats of harm to physical integrity and even death threats”, a phenomenon “associated with the increase in complaints of hate speech ”.

With regard to contacts made to report illegal content available on the Internet, namely child pornography or that condone violence or racism, the line received 720 telephone contacts, among 544 specifically because of content with sexual abuse by minors and others 216 related to hate speech.

In this matter, it was possible to categorize 1,773 images and, in five cases, to report sexual abuse content of minors housed in Portugal.

Ricardo Estrela admitted that “cybercrime is a very vast world”, but left two pieces of advice, namely “be careful with all kinds of information” that is shared on the internet, stressing that the digital footprint is “very strong” and that it is difficult to you can delete something after it is shared, and ensure that all equipment is secure, right from the creation and safeguarding of passwords.

Virologist Pedro Simas said this Sunday that Portugal is experiencing an abrupt reduction in the number of new contagions, resulting from confinement, which could put the country among one of the best in the world to control the third wave of the pandemic.

“We were one of the best in the world in the first confinement, the worst at the origin of the third wave and we will be one of the countries in the world that soon manages to control the third wave because, in fact, there was a fantastic adhesion to the confinement and the result is in sight “, he said in statements to the Lusa agency.

The viruses, he said, are transmitted by droplets and if movements with confinement, wearing masks and social distance are inhibited, the transmission chains are abruptly interrupted.

“This was perfectly predictable and depended on good behaviour and adherence to total confinement and what I see is that there was fantastic adherence and the result is in sight because biology is factual. If there are no contacts and people adhere to the rules, the viruses cannot be transmitted. It is in our hands. That’s why the decrease curve is so steep “, stressed the virologist at the Molecular Institute of the University of Lisbon

Pedro Simas said that from January 28 to February 6 Portugal went from an average of 12,890 cases to 7,270 cases.

“It is fantastic. It is being performed so well that after two weeks there has been a significant decrease in the number of deaths. On January 31, we had an average of 288 deaths in the last seven days and now we have 253. There are also here, a trend and this means that we have good health services and that, despite the difficulties, the National Health Service is performing well. We only have reason to be proud”, he said.

The closure of schools was, for Pedro Simas, decisive for this inflection of the growth curve. “The closure of schools was decisive because it is a clear message for Portuguese society. When schools are closed it is because the matter is serious,” he said, adding that having schools open implied a lot of adult movement.

The virologist warns that it is now very important to learn from the past and realize that it is necessary to follow the rules so that Portugal does not run a greater risk of the appearance of a fourth wave, remembering that it was the relaxation of the measures before, during and after Christmas that led to the third wave of the virus.

“We have already understood the dynamics of the virus. How can we control it? At the level of society by adhering to the rules of physical distance, the use of the mask and inhibiting unnecessary contacts as much as possible”, he stressed. The combination of these factors, he argued, will make a difference in order to gain freedom, keeping the level of infections at acceptable levels.

Pedro Simas reinforces the need for caution in the lack of definition, arguing that it should only be considered when the country reaches between 700 and 1400 new cases per day. “It would be great and we would be at a great security level where, following the rules, we were able to control and avoid a fourth wave,” he said, noting that it is possible that within two to three weeks Portugal will achieve these ideal security values ​​for making decision about the deflation.

“(The lack of definition) is when the numbers allow because they are a direct effect of our behaviour and directly reflect whether we are in control or not,” he said. Pedro Simas also pointed out that an exponential decrease in the number of infections is happening in the world.

“From February until now it has been going up all over the world until the 23rd of December. Between 23 and 28 it went down a little, going up again until January 11th. From January 11th to February 6th it has always been going down. There has never been such a big decrease worldwide “, he said, pointing this out as a positive note, but stressing that there is concern about a possible fourth wave, which is why it is necessary and decisive to be careful in the post confinement.

Mathematician and Professor Henrique Oliveira talks about the role of confinement, the prospects for the coming weeks and the effect of vaccination.

Henrique Oliveira, a mathematician and professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico, considers that the confinement is taking effect, especially since the schools closed, stressing that the Rt (transmissibility index) is below 1 across the country.

“We are reaching the peak in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo and the numbers are very favorable,” said the professor, adding that in this respect he is more optimistic than the Minister of Health, Marta Temido.

However, Henrique Oliveira argues that caution is necessary because the pressure on healthcare will remain, even after the peak is exceeded.

REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF FATALITIES

According to projections, the number of fatalities will start to fall, after a very high peak of deaths by Covid-19 has been reached.

“Lethality went up immensely in the month of January and went up a lot in layers above 80 years old,” he said in an interview with SIC Notícias.

The professor believes that the number of deaths will start to fall very quickly and, from the end of February, it is estimated that Portugal will be at the same level as Christmas, “if all goes well”.

The calculations point to a much smaller number of fatalities between 15 and 22 March. It will be at that time that it will be considered whether or not to open the country.

“With the January and February mortality levels, it would be very imprudent to open in an uncontrolled way”, underlines Henrique Oliveira.

CONFINEMENT IS HALTING VARIANTS

Henrique Oliveira says that the confinement is being very effective, even with regard to the transmission of new variants of the virus. There is still no data on the Manaus variant, but there is already scientific evidence on the British and South African variants.

“All foreign variants, English, South African and even Manaus, are not being devastating in the face of this confinement. They are being dominated”, says the professor.

VACCINATION STILL WON’T HAVE AN IMPACT IN FEBRUARY

Vaccination in February will not yet have an effect on the numbers, says Henrique Oliveira. However, if it is possible to vaccinate 80% of people over 80 during February and March, the protection will be noticeable significantly, allowing the month of April to be an opening month.

“I want to show a sign of optimism, we will have summer. From June onwards, we will be in a very favourable situation, we will be in a kind of temporary group immunity”, says the professor, remembering that this is only possible if contacts are reduced and the use of a mask continues to be widespread.

In a positive perspective, which requires some prudence, tourism will be able to plan activities in the summer, says the mathematician.

We want society to open up and be able to recover from there without limits”, he concluded.

“For the pandemic to be eradicated, it must be eradicated in the European Union and on a global scale, which is a huge effort”, underlined the prime minister.

The Prime Minister also underlined that to speed up the vaccination process, the industry has to increase the vaccine production capacity. António Costa stressed that the pharmaceutical companies have already committed to fulfill this objective.

For the head of government, it is essential to vaccinate the majority of the population in order to return to normality: “We will only return to normality in our lives when we are all vaccinated or, at least, 70% of the population, reaching group immunity”.

“It is essential that each one waits serenely for his or her turn to be vaccinated”, he recalled with the indication that the call for the vaccine will arrive via SMS or letter.

The Prime Minister also said today that one thing is the turmoil of political debate and another is reality, praising the joint work of the National Health Service and the private and social sectors in combating covid-19.

This position was transmitted by António Costa at the end of a visit to the new CUF Tejo Hospital, in Alcântara, during which he attended the vaccination process of health professionals in the private sector and was accompanied by the Minister of Health, Marta Temido.

“I want to leave a word of thanks here, because one thing is the turmoil of political debate and another thing is reality. Since March we have been in contact, we have worked together, and the National Health Service (SNS) and private hospitals and of the social sector, or of the Armed Forces, have been mobilized whenever necessary to respond to this pandemic situation “, maintained the leader of the executive.

Speaking after brief speeches by the chairman of the CUF group’s board of directors, Salvador de Mello, and the Minister of Health, António Costa stressed that the country is experiencing the most critical moment in the fight against the epidemic, being also “the moment when this collaboration between sectors proved to be more necessary and, equally, more effective was demonstrated “.

“We have 53 agreements across the country with institutions from the private and social sectors, 13 of which, specifically, for the treatment of covid-19 patients. At the time when each bed is absolutely essential, the existence of an additional 300 beds made available by the private sector on the whole it is very important “, stressed the executive leader.

The prime minister also pointed out that there will be more than 700 beds made available by the private sector, reinforcing “a set of conventions” for the care of non-covid-19 patients who need treatment.

School closures, which led to less mobility, and the more restrictive measures imposed by the Government helped a faster drop in the transfer rate, show estimates from the Covid19 Insights project

The closure of schools, and the consequent decrease in mobility, and the more restrictive measures imposed by the Government from mid-January helped a faster drop in the transmissibility rate of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, making the effect of the current confinement very close to the effect achieved with the confinement made in March and April last year. Within a week it was possible to reduce the transmissibility of the virus by 35% to 40%. It is still early to relax, but this greater compliance with the measures is beginning to reveal some impact on the covid-19 numbers. Although hospitalizations and deaths remain high.

“To evaluate a containment, what matters is to measure its effect. The effectiveness of a confinement is seen by the drop in the rate of transmissibility. This rate is the product of two elements: contact rate – mainly represented by mobility – and the likelihood of transmission – represented by the characteristics of the virus and the protective barriers we use ”, explains to PUBLIC Pedro Simões Coelho, coordinator of the Covid19 Insights project, an initiative by NOVA IMS and COTEC.

To measure the effect of the current confinement, the reference was the average speed of the drop in transmissibility of the virus in March and April last year. “We estimate that at the beginning of this confinement, this reduction in the transmissibility of the virus took place at a speed that would be 30% of the speed that was made in March and April. In other words, it was 30% of the effect achieved in the first confinement”, says the specialist, referring to a period that goes from the second week of January to the closing of schools. From that date on, “this effect began and has been progressively intensified and at that date we estimate that the effect of this confinement is about 90% of that of March / April “.

What has changed to achieve this result, even though since the beginning of January there has already been some reduction in the mobility that people have assumed, anticipating the confinement decreed by the Government? “Until January 17th, the presence in workplaces was still very strong. There was already some drop compared to the reference level – average mobility in January and February 2020, when there was still no pandemic – from -11% to -26%, but now the drop is more than 40% ”, begins by explaining .

It is this change that now allows for more favorable estimates than those obtained two weeks ago. Thus, the peak of prevalence is expected to happen these days, with about 182 thousand active cases. This figure should drop to 160 thousand on 7 February. Also for that day, the scenarios point to the existence of 5900 people with hospitalized covid, of which 825 are in intensive care units. The maximum number of hospitalizations will have been reached on day 1 and the maximum in intensive care is likely to happen by the end of the week. As for deaths, the maximum will have been reached on 30 January with about 300 deaths per day.

But the country is still far from breathing relief, even though the Rt (transmission risk) is slightly below 1. According to estimates, this should only drop below 0.8 in the second half of this month and it will be for that reason that the security barrier of 5000 new daily cases should be reached. “The value of 50 new cases per 100 thousand inhabitants has been used by many as a barrier below which it is possible to have an adequate traceability of the cases and to make an identification of the transmission chains. And, consequently, we have to do this as soon as possible”, states Pedro Simões Coelho.

The president of the Scientific Council of NOVA IMS also points out that the estimated number of hospitalizations, especially in intensive care, shows how the National Health Service (SNS) is close to its maximum capacity, since the same criteria of previous phases were used of the pandemic, estimates would point to higher numbers of patients hospitalized at around 200 in intensive care.

“This is one of the reasons why confinement needs to be continued in this severe way for some time. It is essential to maintain or intensify [the drop in transmissibility] for some time to avoid this situation of rupture and try to prevent this excess mortality from continuing ”, he reinforces, stating that if there is capacity to control transmission chains and lower numbers it will be possible to progressively suspect. But always evaluating this impact so that a new growth of contagions can be stopped.

The Judicial Police of Leiria detained, on Monday morning, a man suspected of killing a Brazilian citizen, on January 31, in the area of ​​Caldas da Rainha.

The 40-year-old victim was known to the suspect and was said to have been assaulted with a piercing object in the chest area, “following disagreements at his residence”, informs the Judiciary Police, in the statement sent this Tuesday to the newsrooms, in which it reports the suspicion of a crime of qualified homicide. The citizen, of Brazilian nationality, was still rescued but ended up dying in the hospital.

“The knowledge of the facts was acquired by the PSP, which activated the intervention of the Judiciary Police. Investigative investigations were carried out immediately, and relevant evidence was collected, which led to the arrest of the suspect,” the note reads.

The detainee, 49 years old Portuguese, a logger by profession, will be presented to the court for questioning and enforcement of coercion measures.

The Minister of Health, Marta Temido, made the weekly status of the evolution of the vaccination plan against Covid-19, after the information meeting with the plan’s task force.

Portugal today received 86 580 vaccines from Pfizer / Biontec, totaling about 483 thousand doses from this consortium, and 19 200 from Moderna, of which 10 200 were to have been delivered last week, but were received yesterday, said the Minister, adding that «two deliveries from Moderna and three from Pfizer are scheduled for February”.

Of the 86 500 doses received today, “23 400 were sent to the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira, of which 11700 were for each region”.

“Two batches of the newly approved AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to be delivered,” said the Minister, adding that deliveries scheduled for February 9 and 19 total 200,000 vaccines, out of a total of 6.8 million in the contractual doses.

The Minister also referred that the European Medicines Agency approved “the conditional authorization for placing on the market for the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, and Portugal has the expectation of receiving two batches, on 9 and 19 February, of approximately 200 thousand vaccines, of a total of 6.8 million doses contracted ».

340 thousand vaccinated

Marta Temido affirmed that “340 thousand inoculations have already been carried out, being 270 thousand of first doses and 70 thousand of second doses”.

Health professionals from the National Health Service and from the social and private sectors, professionals and residents in residential structures for the elderly, for people with disabilities and the national network of integrated continuous care, and dialysis centers were inoculated.

Vaccination in care homes

“Vaccination of the first dose is completed in homes and the like, except in those where there are active outbreaks. For this week, the plan includes vaccination in homes where the outbreaks were extinguished” she said.

At the same time, “vaccination of priority health professionals from the private and social sectors and some from the public sector will continue.”

There is also “the vaccination of people over 80 years old without comorbidities and the vaccination of people between 50 and 80 years old with one of the four comorbidities identified as being of particular risk of hospitalization or death”, “a total of 900 thousand people, who will be contacted for vaccination ‘.

The second doses will also be administered to health professionals who have already spent adequate time, as well as in homes and the like, said the Minister.

Convocation process

The President of the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health, Luís Goes Pinheiro, presented the way people will be summoned for vaccination, stressing that this “is a new and complex process, which is being tested”, starting with the first inoculations by this via on the 3rd.

The main means will be the call for an SMS with information that you are scheduled to be vaccinated on such a day, at so many hours, in such part, asking that the answer is yes or no.

If the person answers no or does not answer within the given time, a new SMS will be sent with a new date proposal. If the answer is no or there is no answer to the second message, it will be treated as a rejection.

This user will be transferred to the health department, who will either repeat the sending of sms or contact her in another way, the last possibility being the sending of a letter.

On the eve of the scheduled day, the user will receive a new SMS reminding him, to reduce absenteeism.

If there is an unfolding of the vaccination for places other than the health units, another SMS will be sent with the address.

The second dose will be scheduled when taking the first, and a solution is being developed that allows immediate scheduling, but later communication to the user.

The Minister of Health also referred to the episodes of disrespect for the vaccination plan, condemning these cases and stressing that “this is a process of collective interest that cannot suffer weaknesses”.