Risk of cross-infection from Covid-19 vaccination sites in Nghe An

Bring fruit to the injection site to sell

These days, Quy Hop district is urgently looking for people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 at Tam Hop Commune Health Station. This move was made after the tracing results showed that an F0 had visited this health station to get vaccinated on the morning of November 4. The discovery of an F0 who had been vaccinated again has made many people worried, especially in the context of some vaccination sites having crowded situations and not ensuring distance.

In late October, at the vaccination site at the Thach Giam Town Health Station (Tuong Duong), Nghe An Newspaper reporters witnessed a chaotic, insecure, and disorderly situation. Here, hundreds of people jostled and gathered, waiting their turn to get vaccinated, some people did not even wear masks. People coming to get vaccinated also stood outside on National Highway 7, causing traffic safety risks.

“It’s lucky it’s not raining. If it had rained, hundreds of people would have had to crowd together in the yard of the health station, there would definitely be no space left,” said a resident of Thach Giam town. Seeing the crowd gathering, a local woman even brought a cart of fruit to the gate of Thach Giam town health station to sell to people getting vaccinated. The reporter then contacted the leader of the Tuong Duong district health center in charge of this vaccination site, but the chaotic situation was still not resolved. Only after the police arrived and repeatedly asked the fruit seller to leave did she agree. However, there was still no way to resolve the situation of crowds gathering and jostling each other.

Bringing fruit to the vaccination site to sell. Photo: Tien Hung

In fact, not only Tuong Duong district, but also many other localities have recently experienced chaos at vaccination sites, with no social distancing, causing the risk of cross-infection. Examples include the vaccination site at Le Mao Primary School managed by Vinh City, or the vaccination site in Quan Hanh town (Nghi Loc). "We were called to get vaccinated, but we did not dare to go in and had to go home even though we had a vaccination list," said a resident of Quan Hanh town.

Also worried when witnessing the jostling scene at the vaccination site, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoan (65 years old, Vinh Tan ward, Vinh city), had to wait for her turn to get vaccinated. Ms. Hoan said that vaccination sites must schedule appointments by the hour to reduce the density of crowds. "But here, everyone is scheduled for the same time frame, gathering at the same time, causing overload and crowding. This is very dangerous if there is an F0 here," Ms. Hoan worried. In fact, many localities have had to issue urgent notices to find people after discovering Covid-19 patients had visited vaccination sites.

As of November 9, Nghe An has only administered more than 1.5 million doses of vaccine, most of which are the first dose. Currently, only nearly 200,000 people in Nghe An have received the full dose of vaccine, along with Thanh Hoa, which are the two localities with the lowest rate of receiving two doses in the country. Therefore, the Covid-19 vaccination strategy in Nghe An is still long, and the number of people vaccinated in the coming days is forecast to be very large. Meanwhile, experts have repeatedly warned that vaccination sites are crowded areas, so the risk of Covid-19 infection is always present.

Crowded scene at the injection site in Quan Hanh town. Photo: Contributor

How to get vaccinated safely?

Discussing this situation, a leader of the Department of Health said that in the past, the unit has issued many documents directing the implementation of vaccination work in the complicated situation of the Covid-19 epidemic in the province. However, the organization of vaccination at some vaccination sites in the province still causes crowded situations, loss of security, disorder and failure to ensure social distancing.

According to this leader, large gatherings must not be allowed at vaccination sites, because the virus spreads very quickly, especially the Delta variant. The Department of Health has repeatedly requested districts, cities and towns to deploy vaccination quickly, promptly, safely and effectively; considering this a mandatory and priority task for Covid-19 prevention and control in the current situation. The Department of Health also requires localities to develop vaccination plans. In particular, choosing appropriate locations to minimize the movement of people, especially in areas under social distancing, locked-down areas, etc. Arranging human resources to organize the flow, notify subjects to come for vaccination at different times to avoid large gatherings and instruct subjects to keep a minimum distance of 1m between people to ensure security, order and epidemic prevention and control at the vaccination site.

People waiting to get vaccinated stood on National Highway 7. Photo: Tien Hung

However, despite repeated instructions, some vaccination sites still cannot avoid crowding and crowding. According to experts, each vaccination site is provided with a number of vaccines, so localities need to plan and calculate appointment registration by the hour to match the vaccination speed; register for vaccination online; organize vaccinations in large rooms such as schools; people coming to get vaccinated wear masks, practice social distancing... to avoid infection. In particular, vaccination sites need to have one-way traffic flow, ensuring social distancing from the stages of medical declaration, screening, vaccination and post-vaccination monitoring. Each person must seriously and voluntarily comply with the "5K" principle to ensure safety and prevent and control the epidemic.

Chaotic scene at the injection site in Thach Giam town. Photo: Tien Hung

To ensure safety, learning from local lessons such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, etc., experts recommend that people must first take measures to protect themselves properly and seriously. First, masks must cover the nose, mouth, and chin. Bring hand sanitizer, wash your hands regularly, especially when touching shared objects. It is best to avoid touching surrounding objects if not necessary. Note that many people wear medical gloves, but still have to comply with hand washing (washing the outside of the gloved hand), because the virus can still stick to the surface of the glove, causing infection when you touch your nose and mouth.

Covid-19 is transmitted through the respiratory tract, not through the skin. Before leaving, remove gloves, throw them in the medical waste bin at the vaccination site, and wash your hands thoroughly. Absolutely do not take gloves home. People getting vaccinated should bring their own pen, because they may have to fill in personal information on vaccination forms. Avoid sharing pens.

According to experts, many people wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to get vaccinated, but if they do not understand the PPE removal process, it can increase the risk of infection. The outside of PPE is where the virus can stick, so when removing PPE, standard procedures must be followed.

Second, you must ensure a safe distance. If you are standing in line, you should keep 2 meters away from the person in front and the person behind you, and limit talking and joking when in a crowded place. If you are not in line, you should stand in a quiet place and should not join a large group. Limit face-to-face contact with medical staff: when making a declaration, getting screened or vaccinated, people should sit "perpendicular" to the medical staff, not face-to-face with the medical staff, except in cases of force majeure.

Finally, you must clean your body properly when you get home. It is important to shower immediately after returning home, however, you should do it in order to minimize the risk of infection./.