“School, general practitioners are frail and immediately on the field”

School workers, frail subjects and the reinforcement arriving from general medicine. These are the main strands of the Plan that the ASL Bari has developed to continue the anti-Covid recall campaign, in line with what has been established by the commissioner and the Puglia Region to expand the vaccination offer to the population aged 40 and over. In today’s morning alone, about 2,500 third doses have been delivered, compared to over 69 thousand reminders administered so far in the Metropolitan Area of ​​Bari. The launch of the campaign dedicated to school operators, teachers and non-teachers, allows us to enter a crucial phase to progressively reach the age groups and the different categories for which the recall is currently envisaged at least six months after the last vaccination.

Five are the first schools involved today in Bari for a total of 150 third doses: Salvemini high school, Bianchi Dottula high school, Cpa, 26th didactic circle and Scacchi high school – for a total of 311 schools (in addition to peer institutions) present throughout the provincial territory. “There are about 26 thousand operators, including teaching and non-teaching staff, who will be reached by the active call of the ASL – said the General Director Asl Bari, Antonio Sanguedolce – as already done previously, we aim to have a membership close to one hundred percent as in the first vaccination cycle. Making the school safe is a priority and can only be done with vaccinations and a capillary control of infections “.

The school world, in turn, promptly responded to the call from the public health service. As confirmed by the director of the provincial school office, Giuseppina Lotito: «The school was clamoring to be able to do the third dose – said Lotito – the staff needs to be reminded. There is attention and responsibility in the school world to continue to work in person and in safety for the duration of the entire school year ». Adherence to the vaccination campaign, even in numbers, has so far been very strong, exceeding the coverage percentage of 95%.

And at the same time, the distribution of anti Covid vaccines to general practitioners started, which will give further impetus to the continuation of the vaccination campaign to ensure the recalls but also to recover even the first vaccine administrations, through an assisted-by-assisted awareness raising activity with the aim to encourage membership. Three hundred bottles of vaccine – for a total of 1,800 doses – delivered on the same day to doctors in the offices of the health and social districts of Altamura and Putignano. Tomorrow in the afternoon the general practitioners of Bari will receive the first bottles at the headquarters of the Single District in the Japigia district to start the administration in their own office or at home. In line with the plan agreed with the ASL corporate vaccines operating unit, family doctors are contacting their patients to acquire their availability and are requesting the necessary doses to the districts to which they belong.

“The procurement of doctors will be periodic and punctual – explains Vincenzo Gigantelli, director of the territorial assistance department of the ASL – we have also made available to general medicine also the vaccination points of the population and the district offices for doctors who want to vaccinate in company structures rather than in your own studio “. An important share of third doses was the prerogative of the population most exposed to the risk: the elderly, vulnerable subjects due to pathology and rare patients. Those over 60, 70 and 80, in particular, have already received 43,763 calls. This large age group has so far adhered massively, with 97% of first doses and 96% of cycles completed. As well as the frail subjects due to pathology, which up to now in the Bari area have benefited from more than 247 thousand doses of the vaccine, including 7,715 boosters, as well as rare patients. The latter was a small target, which received a total of 18,720 doses of the vaccine (of which 1,059 boosters), but with an extraordinary coverage of 100 percent for the first dose and 92 percent with double dose, equivalent to 8,480 complete cycles. .