DILI, 13 august 2021 (TATOLI) – The Director-General of the National Hospital Guido Valadares (HNGV), Alito Soares informed that the 773 vaccinated persons who received the vaccines from 10 to 15 June have to receive the new jabs as those doses were considered ineffective due to alteration of the vaccine storage temperature.
Soares said 773 people had been identified to have received the ineffective vaccines: “Including myself, who received the vaccine on june 10.”
“Yesterday, the Health Minister had instructed the Covid-19 immunization team of the HNGV to re-inoculate these 773,” Soares told reporters at the HNGV, in Dili, today.
He said those who received ineffective vaccines included health professionals, families of health workers, and some community members.
“These doses were considered ineffective due to the change of the temperature of the vaccine storage freezer. So, these 773 persons are advised to receive new jabs,” said Soares.
Due to the incident, 27 vials of the first dose and 60 vials of the second dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine were identified freeze and removed from other doses.
Previously, the Health Minister, Odete Belo informed that the power cut was one of the main causes of the change of the temperature of the Covid-19 vaccine storage.
“On the behalf of the Ministry of Health, I would like to advise those 773 individuals to be re-inoculated,” said Belo.
In Timor-Leste, of the 754.864 eligible groups, 43.9 percent had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, of which 15.6 percent have also received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
