Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 29th September 2021
Introduction
Good morning – The headlines yesterday was certainly the news that the mission of Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo has come to an end and, this Tuesday, with almost 85% of the population vaccinated. A fantastic achievement in just 6 months since he took over as Head of the Task Force.
At that time there was great concern that Portugal was lagging behind in the acquisition of vaccines and they slow rate of vaccinations. To some extent this was a problem out with Portugal’s control, as the country is part of the EU which has controls over distribution. Because of the large number of British residents here, there were obvious comparisons to the rapid progress being made in the UK where the focus was clearly on administering as many people with the first dose, which saw these numbers increase quickly.
The implementation plan however, in Portugal in getting people fully vaccinated as soon as possible worked extremely well and although there were occasionally setbacks along the route, Portugal came through and is now in top place in the world in terms of completed vaccination rates. This is an incredible achievement and one that Portugal and, in particular the Vice Admiral and his team, should be rightly proud off.
At Safe Communities we were privileged to have a meeting with the Vice Admiral, during the roll out of the vaccinations, seeking his assistance in helping those who did not have utente numbers and dealing the application system where sometimes the “computer said no”. The online system was not the responsibility of the Task Force, but nevertheless he took on board our concerns in a most helpful and pragmatic way.
So we send our congratulation to the Vice Admiral for accomplishing this result, which has saved many from contracting the disease in the process. We wish him all the best for the future.
Related to this, are the very encouraging figures this week concerning the new cases of Covid-19, in particular the reduction in hospitalisations, those seriously affected in ICU and deaths. There is little doubt that this has been a result of the vaccinations and the general compliance by the population to the measures put in place. There were some who doubted the value of vaccinations and even tried on social media to discourage others from being inoculated – but the result shows that the vast majority took on board the official information and advice from Government. As the Prime Minister said “Country should be proud of civic adherence to the vaccination process”
The Prime Minister has stated that there will be no delay in commencing the 3rd phase of de-confinement as the 85% full vaccination target may only be reached in a week’s time. With effect from the 1st October therefore we are in this new phase of de-confinement and with the significant easing of measures including the re-opening of night club and bars we must continue to take care of ourselves and others. As the Prime Minister said last Thursday “the pandemic is under control but it is not yet over”.
We are expecting the Resolution of the Council of Ministers either today or tomorrow. This is likely to be lengthy due to the number of changes, but we will do our best to simplify when it is published.
On a different topic, yesterday the Judicial Police issued a phishing alert regarding emails that were being sent widely falsely using their name. We published this on our Facebook page. This is a good example of the lengths cyber criminals go to in order to obtain your personal data and access to your bank account! Always be cautious when receiving emails from those who you do not know and/or with offers too good to be true. Simply delete and do not reply. Do not click on any links.
Lastly all indications are the Critical Fire Period will come to an end as scheduled at 23.59 hours 30th September without an extension. However in the past the extensions have only been announced very close to the deadline. We will publish more on this tomorrow.
With that have a Safe Day.
Headlines
Country should be proud of civic adherence to the vaccination process”
“The country should be proud of the civic adherence of the Portuguese to the vaccination process” because without it “it would have been absolutely impossible to achieve these results” said the Prime Minister, António Costa, referring to the percentage reached of 84.03% of people vaccinated against Covid-19.
António Costa was speaking at the last meeting of the vaccination plan against Covid-19, in Oeiras, where the Minister of State and Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, the Minister of National Defence, João Gomes Cravinho, and the Minister of Cheers, Feared Marta.
In his speech, the Prime Minister highlighted the work of Vice Admiral Gouveia e Melo, coordinator of the task force and the Armed Forces, whose enormous effort was decisive in combating the pandemic
The Prime Minister also said that the fact that Portugal “has acquired, over decades, a culture of vaccination”, contributed to making it the country in the world with the highest percentage of people vaccinated against Covid-19. He also highlighted the role of the European Union in the centralized purchase of vaccines, preventing a “huge dispute between Member States” from taking place.
Referring to the graphs presented by the task-force coordinator António Costa, he said that “the trajectory of decreasing incidence of the disease in Portugal, throughout the vaccination process” “does not leave the slightest doubt about the effectiveness” of vaccines.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the fact that Portugal is one of the most vaccine donor countries, whose percentage is around 10% of the total number of doses purchased.
Regarding a possible third dose, António Costa said that the Portuguese “can be calm and confident” since sufficient vaccines are already contracted for the entire population and, if the authorities decide that it is not necessary, the same surplus will be donated to countries of CPLP.
Before finishing, the Prime Minister also highlighted the work of local authorities and health professionals in the success of the Vaccination Plan.
“The last meters of the peak’s climb are always the most difficult”
The prime minister considered that the Portuguese case in terms of vaccination is a success. “It was extremely important that a vaccination plan was defined and that it was followed in detail”, he argued, saying that “vaccination was decisive for the reduction of the incidence and effective control of the pandemic”.
But he mentioned the few that still need to be vaccinated, about 340 thousand. “The last few meters of climbing the peak are always the most difficult”, he said.
Covid- 19 Situation Report 28th September 2021
Confirmed Cases: 1.067.775 (+ 600 / + 0.06 %)
Number of admitted: 399 (-21 /-5.00 %)
Number of ICU admitted: 74 (-5 /-6.33 %)
Deaths: 17.962 (+ 7 / + 0.04 %)
Recovered: 1.019.266 (+ 1331 / + 0.13 %)
Active cases: 30,547 (-738 / – 2.35%)
TRENDS
The number of infections is similar to last week’s daily average
With regard to deaths, the similar to last week’s daily average
This is the lowest number in ICU since 10th June 2021
Lowest number in hospital since 19th June 2021
Lowest number of active cases since 25th June 2021
Health
Restrictions will be lifted even if reaching the 85% target is ‘delayed’
The Prime Minister and the Minister of Health assured this Tuesday that the Government will maintain the lifting of the set of anti-covid-19 restrictions on October 1st, even if on that day the country has not reached the goal of 85% of citizens vaccinated
This position was conveyed by António Costa in statements to journalists, after questioning whether the country moves on October 1 to the third phase of the Government’s plan to lift restrictions even if Portugal has not reached 85% of the vaccinated population by a few tenths, with two doses against covid-19.
“The Government set October 1st. We are not at 85% of vaccines, but we are practically at that amount. In fact, today, Vice Admiral Gouveio e Melo [coordinator of the vaccination plan] did not specify the tenth in that the country is, “he replied.
For this reason, for the prime minister, “there are no further delays” in this process of lifting restrictions previously imposed because of the covid-19 pandemic.
The Government, according to António Costa, “will keep everything as planned for October 1st, renewing the appeal to people who have already taken the first dose, but who do not yet have the second, to take it.
“Take this second dose, in order to complete the vaccination plan as soon as possible,” he added.
Portugal ready to execute any decision on the third dose of the vaccine, guarantees Costa
The prime minister said this Tuesday that Portugal is prepared to carry out any technical and scientific decision taken on a possible third dose of the vaccine against covid-19, even if it is to cover the entire population.
António Costa said that the Government awaits the decisions that will be taken by the Directorate General of Health and the European Medicines Authority (EMA) on the issue of the third dose.
“The Portuguese can rest assured: What is possible at this moment to do so that any decision is possible is already done. In other words, the country has every margin of freedom to make the decision that is technically advisable to take,” he said.
According to the executive leader, if the technical decision is to vaccinate, Portugal “has already contracted a number of vaccines to vaccinate the entire population with the third dose”.
“For a majority of reasons, if the decision is only to vaccinate citizens over 65, we have these vaccines contracted. If this decision is not taken, Portugal will not destroy vaccines and will reinforce its international cooperation effort, in particular with countries of the Communities of Portuguese Language Countries”, he referred.
Those responsible for the Comércio in Matosinhos care home accused of 67 crimes of mistreatment
Those responsible for the home declined to hire doctors, nurses and staff, as well as buy equipment and hygiene products necessary for the well-being and health of users, according to the Public Ministry. This home registered, after the period covered by the indictment, an outbreak of covid-19 with more than 100 infected elderly people and 24 deaths.
The Public Ministry (MP) charged 67 crimes of mistreatment, 17 of them aggravated by resulting in death, against a former president and a service director at Lar do Comércio, in Matosinhos. In a process in which the institution itself is also accused, the MP says that the omission of care for elderly people admitted to the home between January 2015 and February 2020 is at stake.
The defendants then acted “with the awareness that the failure to take care of the users could cause their death, and that they were satisfied with this result, as happened in 17 of the users hospitalized there”, says the Regional Attorney General of Porto (PGR-P), in a summary of the accusation.
According to the MP, the individual defendants refused to hire the necessary doctors, employees and nurses, in addition to not buying equipment and furniture, hygiene and therapeutic products such as bedsores, anti-bedsore mattresses, diapers and protein supplements.
All of this “despite knowing that the institution had the economic means to do so”, “for reasons of reduction and containment of expenses” and “violating the functions of the positions they occupied”, says the indictment.
The main news over the last few days has certainly been the volcanic eruption at La Palma on the Canary Islands, and secondly the forthcoming municipal elections. Regarding the former we have been monitoring and reporting on Facebook the situation several days before the eruption, which came a little earlier than some experts predicted.
On another topic yesterday Brits in Portugal posted very useful information that SEF have told them that they will imminently start contacting those of you who have sent a request for residency under the Withdrawal Agreement through the dedicated Brexit email.
“Currently, with a slower pace of vaccination (since the majority of the population is already vaccinated) and greater availability of vaccines, the second doses can take place in a vaccination center different from the place where the first dose was administered. Go to a center and get vaccinated, Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Only together and with a sense of individual and community responsibility will it be possible to defeat this virus”, says a note from the ‘task force’, which recalls that the “Open House” modality is working without restrictions on age groups or place of residence of users.
The trial included 2268 children between the ages of five and 11 years. Of these, two-thirds received two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart. The remainder were inoculated with two doses of placebo.
This is a great achievement and one for which Portugal should be congratulated, in particular the work of Vice Admiral Gouveia e Melo and his team. A major logistical challenge, only a military man with a logistical background could perhaps achieve!
As far as Safe Communities is concerned we take the information primarily from the IPMA and the ECMWF which is used by the IPMA, supplemented by other international organisation which use modelling appropriate to Portugal. For instance in the case of tropical cyclones (luckily few and far between), we often use the US hurricane Centre which has advanced technology especially as far as tracking is concerned.
Lisbon, 15 Sep 2021 (Lusa) – The national pharmacovigilance system detected 41 cases of “suspected vaccine failure” in people who received the Janssen vaccine, 36 of which were considered serious, the National Medicines Authority (Infarmed) said today.
The Hospital Professor Doutor Fernando Fonseca detected today eight cases of covid-19 in patients admitted to the ‘Orthopedics A’ service and has already activated the contingency plan to contain and mitigate the risk of contagion, said source hospital.
Portugal is about to reach the target of 85% of the population with vaccination against full covid-19 , which, according to the coordinator of the ‘task-force’, Vice Admiral Gouveia e Melo, should happen by the end of the month with the vaccination centers gradually being deactivated.
Good morning – Yesterday was a very unusual day, almost unique in terms of rural fires, certainly for September, in that at 20.00 hrs there were NO fires, either Active, In resolution or concluded. This is so unusual in Portugal during the Critical Fire Period, I contacted the ANEPC in Lisbon and they confirmed that this was indeed the case.
Leslie made landfall in the central region of Portugal, resulting in extensive material damage in Figueira da Foz, and placed thirteen districts under red warning due to strong winds and waves. It was considered the biggest storm to hit Portugal since 1842
The number in hospital is the lowest figure in almost two months, since on July 10th there were 632 hospitalized. There are also five fewer patients in Intensive Care Units (total: 135).
The Epidemiology Group of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) will be heard in parliament on Wednesday about the mandatory use of masks, following a request by the PSD approved this Tuesday, a parliamentary source told Lusa.
Almost eight thousand nurses have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic in Portugal, which represents about 10% of professionals registered with the Order, the organization said.
In a statement, Infarmed says that the “3Ply Type II Face Mask”, model M3PII, from the manufacturer BesilChem LLP, unduly bears the CE marking as there is no evidence of compliance with all applicable legal requirements at European level, including the fact that the technical documentation is incomplete.
The children and young people, unaccompanied, were welcomed in Portugal under the Voluntary Relocation Program and are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana, Iraq, Pakistan and Sudan, says a joint statement from the cabinets of the ministers of State and of Sudan. Presidency, of Internal and Labour Administration, Solidarity and Social Security.