Corvo, the small island in Portugal which has obtained collective immunity with its own vaccination plan against the coronavirus

The island of Corvo, in the Azores archipelago, became the first Portuguese territory, and one of the first in Europe, to obtain group immunity after mass vaccination against the coronavirus who did not follow the guidelines set by the government.

Island authorities, with only 430 inhabitants, have decided to follow their own vaccination strategy due to “the particular geographic and health situation” of the territory, sources from the Azores Regional Health Directorate told Efe.

Consequently, they massively vaccinated their entire population in two phases – the first and the second dose – regardless of age preference criteria or pathologies marked by the vaccination plan of the Portuguese executive.

Corvo “he only has a doctor and a nurse on duty and the nearest hospital is six or eight hours away, at best, ”says the Azores Regional Health Directorate.

In the event of a covid epidemic, the risk for the population would be much higher than on the other islands.

In addition, climatic conditions limit mobility by sea or by air, explain the same sources, so that in the event of a health emergency, travel would be complicated.

These complications also affect the transport of vaccines in the appropriate freezing conditions: “Make several trips to the island of Corvo according to the priority criteria it would have been too complex and it is expensive to vaccinate a few people at a time, ”they point out of the body.

For all this they argue, it was more efficient to vaccinate the entire population “in two trips”.

The doses attributed to the island of Corvo did not affect “the vaccination times of the rest of the islands”, indicates the regional directorate of health of the Azores.

The success of this experience was possible thanks to the characteristics of the island and its small population, admits José Silva, mayor of Corvo.

Despite the fact that he has just achieved group immunity, Corvo will comply with “all measures in force” to avoid contagion by covid the use of a mask at the safety distance, continues the mayor, who admits however that the population is “more relaxed and calm”.

Corvo’s case will also be closely monitored by health authorities to study the effects of the second dose vaccines in the course of the pandemic.

The decision to establish a special vaccination plan on the island of Corvo was taken by the Regional Directorate of Health, in accordance with the Special Monitoring Commission for the fight against the Covid pandemic in the Azores.

The difficult access conditions made the island a priority territory in Portugal’s vaccination process despite the limited stock of vaccines in the country, which since the start of the campaign on December 27 has barely reached immunize 3% of the population with the application of the two necessary doses.

Source: EFE

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