São Paulo expands number of COVID-19 beds

São Paulo city’s Contingency Plan for Hospitals has come into force, with exclusive beds for COVID-19 patients now adding up to 1,110. The exclusive accommodations are scattered across five municipal hospitals.

The initiative includes the expansion of working hours from 19 to 22 hours of 33 walk-in stations, basic care centers, and combined units, starting Monday (Jan. 17). Six other units, currently open for 12 hours, will be operational 24 hours. Twenty-three tents should also be set up to offer assistance to the population.

Furthermore, basic care units managed by São Paulo city partners have been granted permission to hire doctors and nurses to meet the increase in demand.

Vaccination

Vaccination for children aged five through 11 with comorbidities and disabilities is scheduled to kick off on Monday (17). Parents should bring any medical report proving the condition. The inoculation will also be available for indigenous kids in the same age group.

The city should receive 60 thousand vaccine doses today, said São Paulo Health Secretary Edson Aparecido, which will be promptly distributed to vaccination centers. “We’re starting a new stage in the campaign, now including children. We’ll start vaccination for each age group as we receive the new doses, so that we can reach everyone,” he stated.