A customized bus with five vaccination rooms began running through the northeast of Brazil to accelerate vaccination against COVID-19.
Donated by Mercedes-Benz to Cruz Vermela, the road vehicle O500R started the circuit on Wednesday (9) afternoon in Maceo, where it should pass neighborhoods in the capital of Alagoas for at least a month.
The project consists of two buses, which will travel across the country during the year. The action has financial support from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Brazil-Germany Chamber.
The operation started here, but these buses will travel across the country. The main objective of the project is to get the vaccine to the people, not to go for the vaccine to the people.
Julio Cales, President of the Brazilian Red Cross
The Red Cross members had Maceió. Screened for vaccination against covid in
Image: Carlos Madeiro / UOL
In the northeastern circuit, initially planned travel to the cities of Natal, Fortaleza and So Luis, a total of 4,350 km.
The northern circuit will be covered by an urban bus and will pass through Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Campo Grande, Brasília, Cuiaba, Porto Velho and Rio Branco, covering a distance of 6,570 km. The idea is that the vaccination circuit will begin next week.
Initially, the bus will stop in each city for 30 days, with the possibility of extending it for a further 15 days, at the request of the City Hall. At first, only the capitals would be visited, but through an agreement with the Red Cross, internal municipalities could also be recorded on the map.
“There are only three such buses in the world: these two and one in New York, USA,” says Calles.
Hundreds of people went to get vaccinated
The entire operation of the bus is done by volunteers of the institution, who work from arranging the lines in the opening hours to checking the patients. Already vaccinated and dose administrators have been designated by the city.
“We need the support of City Hall for the project, because by PNI. [Programa Nacional de Imunização], they are the ones who have the privilege to immunize people. The Red Cross enters as a supporting force with equipment and volunteers. The vaccines are from the city hall, we follow their schedule”, he explains.
Apart from vaccination, there are also hygiene education activities with social distancing, hygiene and use of masks.
The service of vaccination against Kovid in Maceo was done in collaboration with the Red Cross
Image: Carlos Madeiro / UOL
hey uol After vaccination yesterday, which attracted hundreds of residents of the Tabuleiro do Martins neighborhood. Residents asked for passwords early to ensure vaccination.
38-year-old housewife Aline Barbosa was one of them. She says that, since she lives next to where the vehicle stopped, she didn’t need to spend a trip to one of the vaccination centers in Maceo.
“It took a lot of effort to get a certificate to get vaccinated. I am very scared of this disease, I do not leave the house for anything. Getting vaccinated is a big relief, but I know that I have to take care of it I need to wait for another dose,” she says, who is obese and could have been vaccinated from May.
This close to here was easy, so I’m here.
Aline Barbosa, housewife vaccinated with first dose of Pfizer
Yesterday, cases were just vaccinated with Pfizer vaccine for the first dose, and with AstraZeneca/Oxford for the second dose. Coronavac is missing.
Reserved space on the bus to store and organize vaccine doses
Image: Edwan Ferreira
According to 53-year-old nurse Dulsilene Omena, a team of 15 professionals from City Hall were assigned to work on the bus while they were in Maceo. “Today was our first full day [na quarta-feira houve apenas meio expediente]We arrived here at 7:50 am to accommodate everything and at 9 am, we opened up to the public and started vaccination. I vaccinated a few people and I could see their happiness,” he says.
In addition to the rooms, there is a reserved space on the bus to store and organize vaccine doses. One of the roles of nurses is preparing the dose of Pfizer’s vaccine.
“It tends to concentrate and needs to be diluted immediately. That’s why I make this preparation. Each bottle of it delivers six doses”, explains nurse Daniel Beltro, 34, adding that the team is acting in a new experience. happy to do.
“I see everyone excited, happy to be working here. It’s a feeling of gratitude for the opportunity,” he said.
Why start with Maceo
Nurse Daniel Beltrow designed Pfizer’s vaccine
Image: Carlos Madeiro / UOL
Julio Cales explains that the choice of Maceo as the kickoff to action was because the capital of Alagoas has a faster vaccination rate than the national average. “She has already passed the vaccination of comorbidities, she has greatly reduced her age [hoje podem se vacinar pessoas a partir de 52 anos] And that inspired us to come here,” he says.
According to Claudson Moura, coordinator of the Office of Integrated Management to Combat COVID-19 in Maceo, the capital of Alagoas has a 99% application rate of vaccines received today.
“The bus is an important tool to expand the campaign and allows us to bring vaccination closer to those who need it most. Our feeling is our gratitude to the Red Cross and Mercedes-Benz, who have helped us as a laboratory. Which gives us a lot of responsibility and at the same time, a lot of happiness,” he says.
As of Wednesday, Maceo had applied 401,000 doses of vaccines against Covid-19, with the first dose (or 10.6% of the population) being 107 thousand.
