Mozambique: Doctors concerned about the absence of Covid-19 vaccination plan – O Pais

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Mozambique: Doctors concerned about the absence of Covid-19 vaccination plan – O Pais

3:10 CAT | 03 Mar 2021

Photo: O Pais

The Order of Doctors has reacted with concern to the fact that vaccines have already been distributed in the provinces without the publication of any vaccination plan. The organisation says that it alerted the Ministry of Health to the relevance of presenting a plan, saying that vaccination “cannot be done in a disorderly manner and without clear criteria”.

The subject is dominating the attention of Mozambicans. Days after the arrival of the first batch of 200,000 vaccines from China, the Mozambican health authorities began to distribute the doses to provinces without a vaccination plan, a move that the Order of Doctors fails to comprehend.

“There is no doubt that the distribution should not take place without a vaccination plan. This is unquestionable; it is not possible to think that vaccination can take place in a rushed manner. There needs to be organisation,” says Gilberto Manhiça, president of the medical association, adding: “It is not for lack of warning or advice that MISAU has acted in this manner”.

“We had already raised this issue in the meetings that we have had in the ministry. We talked about the need to have a very clear plan about this vaccination and, at the time, MISAU promised that it would be done,” Manhiça says.

“We had information that the vaccine would arrive in the country more than a month in advance. At the same time, we put the issue of the plan on the table, but until today nothing has been presented, and that worries us.”

Even absent a vaccination plan, the Order of Doctors has its position on how the process should take place.

“I think that the first to be vaccinated should be those who deal with patients who have contracted the disease. It also makes perfect sense that the professionals who do the screening are at the forefront of vaccination. Not forgetting those who are older, who are available to provide their knowledge, they should also be in this first batch of those to be vaccinated,” Manhiça advises.

Nurses less concerned about absence of a plan

Meanwhile, in reaction to this same controversy, the Order of Nurses says it believed that MISAU has a plan. “I want to believe that the plan exists. The operationalisation of a plan always follows steps. I am aware, for example, that there is a group of professionals who are being trained for this vaccination issue,” says Maria Lourenço, president of the Order of Nurses.

Nurse Lourenço says the ongoing stir is simply due to the fact that the process is new in the country.

“Awareness among nursing professionals is long-standing, though it may not have been comprehensive, because these actions have their logistics. This Covid-19 is a new issue, and brings with it many myths and some misinformation,” she says.

The Order of Nurses also hopes to counter the idea that the vaccine will solve all problems.

“The vaccine does not cure,” Lourenço says, quoted by ‘O País’. “Rather, it gives the vaccinated person a lower risk of developing a serious illness or even of dying. This means that one cannot, nor should one, relax regarding preventive measures.”

The two Orders were unanimous in urging the provision to health professionals of all information about the vaccine, in order to minimise any fears about inoculation that might exist.

By Raúl Massingue

Source: O País