‘The elderly are often confused after months of solitude, we help them understand’

Rome, 2 April (beraking latest news Salute) – At Easter and Easter Monday “I will be here as every day to vaccinate the elderly, today is our mission. I spent my birthday at work with a syringe and vial in my hand, 60 years old. Who knows, maybe we will succeed by Sunday even to give or give us some chocolate eggs “. Nurse Maurizia d’Amore, operational manager of the ASL Roma 1 vaccination point at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, operational since February 15, tells beraking latest news Salute. The facility in the heart of the Flaminio district is dedicated to people over 80: “I am very happy and grateful – continues the nurse – On average, each operator immunizes 40 people a day and we work on several shifts to ensure complete coverage. Now we are vaccinating with Moderna “.

In front of the Auditorium, now closed due to the Covid emergency, there is a dense coming and going of cars that leave the over 80s at the entrance to the center. “They are often excited and tense – says d’Amore, who has accumulated a lot of experience in the ASL vaccination centers over the years – but what they ask us is to have the vaccine to be able to see their loved ones as soon as possible”. And there is no lack of attention, even ‘gallant’, towards health workers, for the most part women. “A gentleman for the second dose brought us 50 hot croissants – he remembers – Then there was also another who gave us a bouquet of white roses. Gestures that are pleasing during a tiring day of work, harnessed and covered from the head on foot”.

“The elderly people who come here know they are ‘survivors’ of the pandemic. What is happening with the anti-Covid vaccinations is very different from the normal flu campaign – continues d’Amore – and we read this in their eyes. . Often they have been alone for months and are confused with respect to the news about the vaccine, they have heard the things they know on TV. We try to cheer them up and answer their questions, then once the dose is done they relax and are happy. They always thank us. and the thing they say most often is that ‘here it doesn’t seem to be in Italy’, on the one hand this fills us with pride for our work, but on the other it makes us reflect a lot “.

Several teams work in the ASL Roma 1 Vaccinal Point at the Auditorium Parco della Musica: 10 stewards who welcome people, 4 auxiliaries who accompany them to the stations and follow them in the various phases and then 14 nurses and 6 doctors per shift.

“Since we left we have administered over 15 thousand doses without any adverse reactions – underlines the operations manager of the center – We had a man who could not get out of the car due to health problems and we had to vaccinate him in the garage under the center. the vaccine has a ‘book’ of procedures and nothing is left to chance. We all work in the same way and following the procedures. We try to be perfect – he concludes – and we do it even smiling, in front of us we have an often fragile person who needs to feel close”.