The National Guard launches an appointment system for vaccination against COVID-19

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The National Guard of Puerto Rico plans to launch an appointment system for the operation of the regional COVID-19 vaccination centers across the island, to be released at the second location of this type in the Centro de Bellas Artes de Caguas. .

The opening of this center would be tomorrow, Tuesday or Wednesday, said the adjutant general of the National Guard, José Reyes.

“We are preparing the opening of the facilities. We also run an appointment system, we are in the final touch to be able to announce it and make sure we start tomorrow.Reyes stated in an interview with The new day.

For the appointment system, the adjutant general said the National Guard is in contact with the College of Surgeons of Puerto Rico, as this entity has an electronic register of its members. In the case of Caguas, the plan so far is to employ about 40 people per hour. Between ten and 12 vaccination stations will be active before the operation.

The goal, Reyes explained, is “Be more effective (in the operation), that is smoother and is not that annoying for people”. He assured that he tries to prevent those present to be vaccinated from even spending the night before on the premises of the center to ensure a vaccination service that day.

The National Guard’s projection is that the appointment system will work through an application that is pending, although they expect it to be ready in the next few days. That application would be used in the 11 vaccination centers that the National Guard will open across the island.

In addition to Caguas, the regional vaccination center is expected to begin operations this week at the Manuel “Petaca” Iguina Coliseum in Arecibo, where members of the National Guard are present today as part of preparations for the site. “There was a situation with the air conditioning system in the Colosseum, we hope this situation will be corrected,” said Reyes.

The official said the process to enable the 11 centers could be extended until Jan. 15. “The number of centers we are going to open will be determined by the flow of vaccine inventories,” he said. The opening of the center in Ponce is scheduled for next week.

“We have already visited Aguadilla, Mayagüez, Humacao and Barranquitas, the next four centers,” said the general assistant. In addition to those mentioned, there will be centers in Fajardo, Guayama and Bayamón.

The total number of vaccines is on the rise in San Juan

Regarding the vaccination center at Coliseíto Pedrín Zorrilla in San Juan, Reyes reported that from tomorrow he has again adjusted the limit of vaccinated per day to 800. Today and in recent days an estimated limit of 650 has been used.

In San Juan, the main complaint was that people present to be vaccinated in some cases even had to stay overnight since the night before to ensure a vaccination service. According to the general assistant, one of the reasons behind the long lines is that people keep arriving from different parts of the island, although the focus at this stage is on health workers from San Juan and surrounding towns.

“That center of San Juan is not for Ponce, people come from all over the island”Reyes said, calling on people to wait for the centers to open in their region, rather than arrive in San Juan. He also reiterated that another shift will be awarded to people in line of vehicles who cannot enter when the limit for the day is reached, but that many will not be there the next day despite the appointment.

“Of the 200 (with shifts from yesterday to today), 108 arrived. If you make an appointment or have a shift, make use of it,” Reyes emphasized.

Meanwhile, troops at the National Guard facilities in Old San Juan are today training about 60 student volunteers from the country’s medical schools, who will provide support in the administration of the vaccine at the various centers. In total, the official indicated that about 120 students have been registered so far. There is also a training on Wednesday.

On the other hand, the National Guard confirmed that it has today distributed 21,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to the 65 hospitals on the island to complete the vaccination phase of its staff. Once this phase is completed, hospital institutions will continue to support the National Guard in vaccinating health workers working outside hospitals.

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