Covid-19 Vaccination Plan to Include ‘Mi Vacuna’ App

The Medellin Mayor’s Office on January 5 issued a bulletin updating plans to begin Covid-19 vaccinations in February. The first phase of 86,526 doses of the vaccine will be administered to front-line health-care workers and adults 80-and-over, next month.

That will be followed by a second phase covering those 60 to 79 plus second-line health-care workers, then a third phase including those aged 16 to 59 and those with co-morbidities, collectively totaling 384,370 people, according to the Mayor’s Office.

“Thanks to the ‘Medellín Me Cuida’ platform, the municipal administration knows the location of the prioritized population,” according to the bulletin. “Seven [ultra-cold] freezers will arrive in the city and will serve to distribute doses to the entire Antioquia territory and other departments.”

The first phase will tap Pfizer and Aztrazeneca-Oxford vaccines in February, according to the national government’s distribution schedule.

Medellin’s Secretary of Government Esteban Restrepo added that “we are working in an articulated manner to achieve a successful process of scheduling and applying the vaccine. We will have 94 vaccination points in the city” manned by 282 vaccination teams, he added.

‘Mi Vacuna’ Scheduling App to Debut

On a related front, Colombia’s Health Ministry announced January 5 that it will debut a cell-phone application called “Mi Vacuna” later this month so that people will know when and where they can get vaccinated.

According to the Ministry bulletin, “the Ministry of Health will have the databases of the population subject to vaccination in order to carry out the identification, assignment of the vaccination appointment and follow-up to the vaccination in the IPS [hospital or clinic] assigned for each individual, by the [EPS health-insurance networks] and the territorial entities.

“Insurers and territorial entities must monitor and confirm the vaccination appointment to users, in order to guarantee access and compliance with hygienic sanitary measures for the prevention of contagion during the vaccination strategy.”

To register for vaccinations, “an access link is currently under development on the Ministry’s web portal, in which any person can enter and through their [cedula] identification number verify the [schedule] phase and stage in which they are to receive their vaccine against Covid-19. If you are not registered, then you can apply by reporting the criteria for prioritization, which will be verified and confirmed by the insurer.

“The EPS (Benefit Plan Administration Entities) must assign each insured user to the vaccination IPS in the municipality of residence and close to home in order to guarantee timely access to vaccination. In the same way, the territorial entities responsible for the health of the uninsured poor population will assign the vaccination IPS under the same conditions of the insurers.

“During the vaccination [implementation], populations will not be massively summoned in order to avoid crowds. In this sense it is necessary that appointments be established by the institutions that provide the vaccination service. For health professionals, this vaccination will be carried out directly in clinics and hospitals with mobile teams in accordance with the strategy established by the territory.

“The IPS must inform each EPS and territorial entity the appointment assigned so that the platform is updated by the insurers and allows the individual consultation by the population to determine the phase and stage of vaccination, as well as the place, date and time of appointment for the application of the vaccine.

“Once the data has been included in the ‘Mi Vacuna’ Covid-19 platform, the population can make queries through the hotlines, website and access the ‘ABC for Covid-19’ vaccination site. If you meet the criteria for vaccination, then review and remember your appointment assigned by the IPS, access the informed consent [forms] which you must present at the time of vaccination, and attend the vaccination on time.”

Vaccinations will be voluntary, not mandatory, the Ministry added.