Portugal says will start COVID-19 vaccination as soon as shots arrive

nL8N2IV2H3] Portugal will buy 22 million doses of COVID-19 shots and it has signed agreements to buy the vaccines with potential manufacturers CureVac, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson&Johnson, Sanofi and GSK. Ramos said the super cold storage units needed for the shots would be set up at the three distribution points but not at the 1,200 health centres where the jabs will be given to the population.

The head of Portugal's vaccination task-force said on Wednesday that the distribution of coronavirus jabs would kick off as soon as they arrive in the country, hopefully before the end of the year. "It would be intolerable to have vaccines in Portugal and not use them immediately," Francisco Ramos told a parliamentary committee, adding there would be three main distribution points across the country, including in the Azores and Madeira islands.

The Pfizer-BioNTech shot is expected to arrive three days after the EU drug regulator is set to approve it on Dec. 21, Ramos said. nL8N2IV2H3] Portugal will buy 22 million doses of COVID-19 shots and it has signed agreements to buy the vaccines with potential manufacturers CureVac, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson&Johnson, Sanofi and GSK.

Ramos said the super cold storage units needed for the shots would be set up at the three distribution points but not at the 1,200 health centres where the jabs will be given to the population. The shots can be stored at the central storage locations for around six months and would be transported in coolers to health centers to be administered straight away, he said. There, they can be stored for around 30 days in normal fridges.

The health centers head are ready to start vaccination and are identifying those to be vaccinated first, Ramos said. Portugal announced plans to vaccinate people against the coronavirus voluntarily and free of charge earlier this month, and said it hoped to inoculate nearly 10% of the population during the first phase.

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