Amiran Gamkrelidze: 10 hospitals have been selected in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi, where vaccination will be carried out by 40 brigades
Georgia has received confirmation from the COVAX platform that in the second half of February it will receive the first batch of Pfizer vaccine, which is 29,250 doses, - said Amiran Gamkrelidze, Director of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health.
According to Gamkrelidze, the vaccine is done twice, therefore, the batch will be enough for about 14,000 people. As Gamkrelidze stressed, according to the immunization plan, the highest priority group of people who should be vaccinated at the first stage are medical workers. According to him, data collection has already started and by this morning, the information about 27,000 people have already been uploaded on the relevant portal.
"The prioritization is also being done among doctors, nurses, junior medical staff, because there are 75,000 medical workers in Georgia, of which 49,000-60% are in our plan, because as you know, our target this year is 60%. The collection of their data has already started, by this morning, 27,000 data were uploaded on a special portal, by medical institutions, which according to the given instructions carry out prioritization by themselves - between high-priority, or those who work directly with COVID-patients, medium and low priority. The further process is organized in such a way that this database is compared with the database of COVID-infected people and for those who have confirmed COVID infection during the last year - the Minister's order stipulates that 3 months after the confirmation of COVID infection, it is already possible to vaccinate them. COVID infection is not an indication against vaccination, but in the acute or subacute period, i.e. after having been infected, we said not to vaccinate these people for 3 months. Therefore, these people will also be deducted.
As you know, vaccination is voluntary and we expect that this group will be selected, about 14,000 people who will be vaccinated in the first stage. Since it is a Pfizer vaccine and it needs to be stored at ultra-low temperatures of -70-80 degrees, we can do it today in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi. Therefore, the imported vaccine will be stored in the warehouse of the Disease Control Center in Tbilisi, as well as in Kutaisi and Batumi. This vaccine, already after thawing, for 5 days, can be stored normally at refrigerator temperature, therefore, accurate calculations will be made. At this stage, vaccinations will only be given in the hospital sector. The Ministry has selected about 10 hospitals and 5 more reserve hospitals in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi, where vaccinations will be carried out by about 40 brigades. Each brigade consists of 3 people - a trainer, a doctor who asks the person with a specially designed questionnaire, and also a registrar who enters further personal data into the electronic immunization module. It is estimated that 40-42 people should be vaccinated by each brigade, therefore, during the day, we think that up to 1,000 people will be vaccinated by these 40 brigades and it will take about 2 weeks to vaccinate these 14,000 people, 1 vaccine will approximately need 2 weeks. After 3 weeks, again, each person will be called - as soon as they receive a reminder via SMS. They will also be given a special form that after 3 weeks they will have to come again and get the 2nd dose of the vaccine. This is very important in the sense that vaccinations against COVID in Georgia will start in February. First, the vaccination of the first priority group - medical staff - will continue, then it will be followed by the residents of nursing homes and their care staff, and then there is an age ranking - over 75 years, over 65, then over 55, etc", - said Amiran Gamkrelidze.
