In Portugal, There Is Virtually No One Left to Vaccinate
By Santora & Minder, 10/1/21, NY Times
The same flood of misinformation about vaccines has filled
the social media accounts of the Portuguese. The country
is run by a minority left-wing govt, a reflection of its
political divisions. And, acc. to public opinion polls,
there was widespread doubt about the vaccines when they
first arrived.
Admiral Gouveia e Melo has been credited with turning it
around. With a background working on complicated logistical
challenges in the military, he was named in February to
lead the national vaccination task force.
Standing 6 ft 3 in, the admiral made it a point to wear
only his combat uniform in his many public & TV appearances
as he sought to essentially draft the nation into one
collective pandemic-fighting force.
“The first thing is to make this thing a war,” Admiral
Gouveia e Melo said in an interview, recalling how he
approached the job. “I use not only the language of war,
but military language.”
While politicians around the world have invoked a similar
martial rhetoric, he said it was critical to his success
that he was widely seen as detached from politics.
He quickly assembled a team of some 3 dozen people, led
by elite military personnel — including mathematicians,
doctors, analysts and strategic experts from Portugal’s
Army, Air Force and Navy.
Asked what other countries can do to bolster their own
vaccination efforts, he did not hesitate to offer his
best advice. “They need to find people who are not
politicians,” he said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/01/world/europe/portugal-vaccination-rate.html
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