Letters from Europe – Getting Vaccinated
Listening to news from the US, I hear many stories of people struggling to get an appointment to receive the COVID vaccine. They speak of spending hours on websites or on the phone trying to determine if they are eligible, where the shots are being given, and if appointments are available. This seems to produce a lot of stress in some citizens.
In contrast, here in Portugal, people do not have to do anything. When it is their turn, they are contacted and given the time and place to go. Since everyone is enrolled in the national healthcare system, they can be prioritized and scheduled automatically then sent a text message at the appropriate time. No stress.
Europe is behind the US in it vaccine roll out programs. It did not spend the billions of dollars on advance orders of unproven drugs the US did and as a result did not get those drugs as quickly. Here in Portugal, we are still in phase one of the vaccine deployment. Phase one includes healthcare and essential workers, nursing homes, and people over 80. The over 80 caught my eye. Why not over 65 as in the US? I looked at the demographics of the two countries and was surprised to learn that the over 80 segment represents about 8% of the population here versus only about 3% in the US. This is due to Portugal having both a longer life expectancy and a lower birth rate than the US.
Be careful and get vaccinated when it is your turn.
My travel photos are at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rick-pic/