• In Portugal, There Is Virtually No One Left to Vaccinate

    From (David P.)@21:1/5 to All on Thu Oct 7 01:10:31 2021
    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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