The vaccination campaign against covid-19 starts today, nationwide, aiming to contain the transmission and development of severe symptoms that lead to hospitalization and/or death of those infected.
The official launch of the initiative will take place at the Maputo Central Hospital, the country’s largest health unit, and will be marked by the vaccination of the first health professional.
To be carried out in four phases conditioned to the availability of the immunizer, the campaign should reach, in the end, at least 16.8 million citizens, excluding individuals under 15 years of age and pregnant women.
Also immunized in this stage will be elderly people living in nursing homes and the workers who assist them, patients with diabetes, initially those registered with diabetic associations until December, and agents of the Defense and Security Forces.
The vaccination against the pandemic starts following Friday’s launch of the national plan for this purpose, whose ceremony was led by the Prime Minister, Carlos Agostinho do Rosário.
At the time, Health Minister Armindo Tiago explained that the exclusion of children under 15 years of age and pregnant women is due to the lack of scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety of the vaccine in these groups.
However, details about the number of citizens to be covered in each phase have not yet been released. It is known, however, that the first phase, which starts today, will include 65,000 health professionals at all levels.
Notwithstanding the progress towards vaccination, the Government is working hard to raise the awareness of society for the continuous reinforcement of measures to prevent the pandemic.
The PR, for example, said in his last communication to the nation that the vaccination helps fight the disease, but does not work miracles, being only a complement to the other preventive measures already widely disseminated, such as the use of the mask in public places and crowded places, frequent hand washing and physical and social distancing.
