MINSK, 20 January (BelTA) – The coronavirus vaccination campaign has kicked off in Grodno Oblast. Healthcare workers were the first to get a shot, BelTA has learned.
On 19 January the first doses of the vaccine were given to the employees of Municipal Polyclinic No. 7 in Grodno and the regional blood transfusion center located nearby.
“The vaccine should be transported and stored under certain conditions - a temperature of minus 18-20°C. Therefore, the necessary equipment was purchased beforehand, including a freezer and temperature indicators that allow monitoring all the technical parameters in line with the instructions,” immunologist Svetlana Krupchinskaya said.
Before getting a vaccine, patients were examined by doctors and had an antibody test. The second component of the vaccine will be administered 21 days later. During this time, vaccine recipients will be under medical supervision. At the first stage of the vaccination program, the polyclinic plans to vaccinate at least two dozen health workers.
General practitioner Maria Zhukovskaya was among the first to receive a vaccine. “I am a mother of three, I work at the polyclinic, I am exposed to coronavirus. I know what it is by myself: I got infected at the beginning of the summer and I do not want to experience it again,” she noted. The doctor emphasized that she never had second thoughts about the vaccination.
Health workers and teachers will be the first to receive vaccines. However, now the polyclinic is also collecting data on those who would like to receive a vaccine free of charge. In the first days alone, more than 20 people living in the service area of the polyclinic said they wanted a vaccine.
The Main Health Department of the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee noted that the region received the first batch of more than 1,700 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. Healthcare facilities are ready to receive the vaccine. The necessary freezing equipment was also purchased for the polyclinics of the city and Grodno Oblast.
