Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 4th August 2021
Good morning – Although it is early days, it appears that we may have now reached a turning point in the Covid-19 pandemic here in Portugal. All the key indicators such as RT and a reduction in incidence rates show that we are now at last on a downward track.
Of course we have been in similar situations before, only to find that cases have increased again, necessitating the reintroduction of more restrictive measures.
However, we are now at a point where the measures are less restrictive than we have seen for well over a year, and we have one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe. The Portuguese government in my view have done an incredible job in responding to crisis few of us have previously experienced.
I can say this with some experience and confidence, having been at the forefront in Hong Kong in 2002/3 dealing with the SARS crisis. We learned a great deal from that crisis which is why Safe Communities Portugal became the first organisation in Portugal to start monitoring its progress, two months before it reach our shores.
If all goes well we will be back to normality once 85% of the population is vaccinated with estimates being that will be sometime in October. Before then, once 70% vaccinations are achieve, estimate, September we will then move to the next phase. Currently 57% of the population have been fully vaccinated and almost 70% at least one dose.
As proposed by several experts, measures were approved at the last Council of Ministers applicable to the levels of 70% and 85% of complete vaccination of the population, based on indicators related to the assessment of the risk of transmission of the infection, the level of incidence, clinical severity and the responsiveness of the National Health Service, to be defined by the member of the Government responsible for the health area. An Order has now been published with details of these and can be downloaded in English from our Covid-19 Risk page.
https://www.safecommunitiesportugal.com/major-incidents/covid-19-risk/
I recommend that you visit this page with the updated figures from the INSA which are usually published on Saturday mornings
The self-scheduling of Covid-19 vaccines for those age 16 and 17 years was available from yesterday, August 3, at the DGS site.
According to the Task Force – At this time, older people cannot schedule a vaccination because the portal “is only allocated to self-schedule for 16 and 17 year olds”. This group is for vacancies available for the 14th and 15th of August, so they will have full priority. There are more than 200,000 teenagers eligible for vaccination across the country. The task force stated that the portal should re-open for older age groups within days.
The Casa Aberta (Open House) scheme is now available to those 30 years of age and over. Users will now be able to schedule their “Casa Aberta” vaccination through a TICKET SYSTEM, in order to avoid queues. Please see our Facebook post yesterday and also our website Covid-19 Vaccinations page.
Turning to the subject of rural fires and other catastrophes; much of this is a result of extreme weather conditions, which we are experiencing in Portugal in respect of high temperatures, but also in the north of Europe concerning heavy rain and flooding.
We are focusing on this subject because of the high risk of rural fires in Portugal which will likely increase further as the weather becomes dryer. To help the foreign communities here in Portugal will also report on major catastrophes overseas, where families or friends may be affected.
Extreme weather is becoming far more frequent, and sets the conditions where fires can start and spread easily. Often these are a result of negligence and sometimes deliberately.
It is essential, and I repeat “essential”, therefore that we are fully aware of the fire risks, especially those living in high risk areas. We should know what action to take should a fire start, bearing in mind that fires can start and spread very quickly.
So we remind those in rural areas, especially high risk areas, to understand the fire risk in your area, develop a self-protection action plan, practice it and know what to do should a fire break out. Your life and that of your family could depend on the decisions you make and the action you take.
I will be covering this topic in more detail in a special feature in this Thursday’s Algarve Resident.
With this please have a Safe Day
DGS Covid-19 Report Tuesday 3rd August 2021
Confirmed Cases: 974.203 (+ 2076 / + 0.21 %)
Number of admitted: 945 (-23 /-2.38 %)
Number of ICU admitted: 204 (+ 1 / + 0.49 %)
Deaths: 17.397 (+ 19 / + 0.11 %)
Recovered: 909.330 (+ 4368 / + 0.48 %)
Active cases: 47,476 (-2311/–4.6%)
Safe Communities comparisons/trends show that deaths were double that of the previous day and nearly double last weeks’ daily average; new daily cases were nearly double that of Monday’s but still below last week’s daily average. As far as hospitalisations are concerned there was a moderate decrease following Monday’s’ large increase, but still second highest since 15th March. In ICU there was another small increase, and in so far as active cases are concerned there was a very large decrease for one day, the lowest total since 14th July 2021
Health
Vaccines for 16 and 17 year olds
The self-scheduling of Covid-19 vaccines for those age 16 and 17 years was available from yesterday, August 3, at the DGS site.
According to the Task Force – At this time, older people cannot schedule vaccination because the portal “is only allocated to self-schedule for 16 and 17 year olds”. This group has vacancies available for the 14th and 15th of August, so they will have full priority. There are more than 200,000 teenagers eligible for vaccination across the country.
This came into effect a few hours ago and appointments can be made in the same way as older age groups on the DGS website.
At this time, older people cannot schedule vaccination because the portal “is only allocated to these ages”, confirms the task force, which recalls that young people were considered a priority in this phase before the start of the new academic year. “It’s a constraint on the system”, he justifies, noting that the portal will open again for other age groups “within a few days”.
COVID 19 – Vaccination “Casa Aberta” is now available for 30s and over
The announcement was made yesterday by the coordinator of the task force, Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, who also said that this regime would no longer be conditioned to the use of the Janssen vaccine (from Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals), in vaccination centers that have other brands available.
Users will now be able to schedule their “Casa Aberta” vaccination through a TICKET SYSTEM, in order to avoid queues. The ticket scheme using a digital password is here.
Gouveia e Melo stressed that this system is already being tested in some places and will be generalized next week.
The “Casa Aberta” allows for the vaccination of first doses by people +30s, who have not scheduled a vaccine and who have not been infected with Covid-19 in the past six months.
DGS Reduces interval between doses of Pfizer’s vaccine
The changes were announced in DGS Standard 021/2020 of 3 August 2021 “n5. Vaccination schedule of the COMIRNATY® vaccine – Recommended vaccination schedule: 2 doses with an interval of 21 to 28 days.”
Pfizer/BioNtech is the most used brand of vaccines against Covid-19 in Portugal. New interval is flexible.
A change that confirms what had already been requested by the coordinator of the vaccination task force, Vice Admiral Gouveia e Melo, to be able to vaccinate the younger people group before the start of the school year.
And above all, given the prospect of the arrival of one million vaccines from Pfizer next week, it is expected that it will be possible to speed up the vaccination process again.
Blood donations
The Portuguese Federation of Benevolent Blood Donors (FEPODABES) launched, this Tuesday, an appeal so that “citizens continue to give blood at this time of year”.
According to the website dodor.pt , the reserves of the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (IPST) referring to negative groups are the most worrying. Type O- and B- have reservations for up to four days and type A- for four to seven days. AB- and O+ groups have reservations of seven to 10 days. Groups AB+, A+ and B+ will last for more than 10 days.
In the summer and in time of pandemic, “hospitals continue to need blood to meet the needs of their patients”, warns FEPODABES, calling for “all citizens over 18 years old, weighing more than 50 kilos and that they are healthy, make your gift”.
“Right now we are in need of blood donors of blood groups 0-, A-, B- very low reserves”, he emphasizes.
To respond to this need, it continues to promote summer campaigns. Collection locations and dates can be found on the official website www.fepodabes.pt .
“Summer is a time of the year when the availability of citizens to donate blood is reduced, so FEPODABES decided to promote this summer campaign to contribute to the maintenance of blood reserves”, he explains.
Alberto Mota, president of FEPODABES, insists that it is “very important that people make their donation before leaving for the well-deserved vacation, because even in the summer hospitals need blood.” This call to mobilize citizens is also aimed at “remembering that giving blood is a benevolent gesture that can save lives”, he concludes.