Gouveia e Melo is “Portugal’s discreet hero” in the fight against the pandemic, says Financial Times – Observador
On the day the Government announces the extinction of the task force, the Financial Times (FT) highlighted, in a article dedicated to the success of the Portuguese vaccination campaign, the role of Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, who “turned into a discreet Portuguese hero in the fight against a Covid-19”, led the newspaper, after an “unfavorable” start in the hands of the former coordinator.
The publication begins by recalling Gouveia e Melo’s visit to a vaccination center where he was applauded by young people between 12 and 15 years old and their parents, and he will have been moved by the scene. “He couldn’t avoid it”, they mention. “People were telling me that I was with me, that they supported me.”
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The newspaper also won over the vice-admiral’s visit to a vaccination center in Odivelas where it was produced by a group of deniers, recalling that there were posters calling him a “murderer”, and to which the task force coordinator responded with “the real killer is the virus”.
Gouveia e Melo obtained with anti-vaccination protests in Odivelas
This type of protest did not take place very often in Portugal and the “overwhelmingly positive public response to Gouveia e Melo”, points out the FT, was “one of the several factors that made the country a pioneer” in the vaccination process.
Portugal is the country with the highest vaccination rate in the world, whose advanced figure this Tuesday already points to 84.03% of people fully vaccinated, having surpassed countries that led the process at the beginning, as is the case of Israel and the Kingdom United, points out the FT.
“What matters is vaccinating enough people to protect the entire group,” said Gouveia e Melo at a conference this month highlighted by the newspaper. “Being first, second or third in the world is not important.” The British publication claims that the success of the country’s vaccination is due, according to experts, to “constructive cooperation between doctors, officials and local officials.”
The Financial Times also reports the words of health minister Marta Temido, who spoke to the newspaper and assured that the National Health System (SNS) has always paid special attention to primary health care. “Our doctors and nurses have been at the center of a strategy based on large-scale vaccination centers, where military and municipal support has been vital,” Temido told the Financial Times.
Gouveia e Melo, “grey-bearded vice admiral”, was appointed in early February this year as coordinator of the task force on vaccination and will have “instilled confidence in a program that started unfavorably months before”, meet the TF, referring to the resignation of Francisco Ramos, who left office after detecting irregularities in the selection process for vaccination of professionals at the Red Cross hospital.