Invited Address 3 - The Role of the UPR Medical Sciences Campus in the COVID-19 Public Health Response in Puerto Rico
Saturday, November 19, 2022
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST
Location: Broadway Ballroom, 6th Floor
Earn 1 CE Credit
Keywords: COVID-19, Public Health, Vaccines Level of Familiarity: Basic to Moderate Recommended Readings: Time-Varying Effectiveness of Three Covid-19 Vaccines in Puerto Rico Mónica M. Robles Fontán, Elvis G. Nieves, Iris Cardona Gerena, Rafael A. Irizarry doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.17.21265101 accessed at: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.10.17.21265101v2
Professor University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
By June 8, 2022, Puerto Rico has administered 7,107,447M of vaccine doses in a population of 3,076,212 M. The coverage of 95% people with at least 1 dose is greater than many States. Since protection wanes after 6 months,1.3M people need a booster. The success of the public health response was in large part due to planning and inclusion of most health care sectors in the response. In addition, PR has traditionally reported good vaccination rates among school-aged children. The UPR Medical Sciences Campus response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its sustained work includes several strategies. With 6 schools: Medicine, Dental Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health, a community of about 5,000 individuals (students, faculty, residents, and staff), we are educators, health care providers (HCP) and research leaders. Specifically, we will address research, molecular testing, and vaccination efforts. With a need for testing and diagnosis, as a step for research and management of cases, we established a molecular testing center in 2020. It allowed our investigators to offer participation in diverse research activities and access to testing for our students and staff. We were part of clinical trials for vaccines (Novavax) and new treatments (ACTIV-network). Once the testing program was ongoing and vaccines were available by December 2020, we established a Vaccine Center with active participation of the Deans and faculty of 5 schools: Medicine, Dental Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Health Professions. Fair distribution of vaccines required assessment of exposure risks among students and faculty per school and program, planning for appointments according to capacity, dissemination of the plan with its specific rationale and monitoring to assure compliance of the plan. Our model decentralized the establishment of risk category of staff, faculty and students, and the appointment lists at the Deanship of each school. We determined the vaccination slots per day and assigned numbers to the Deanships which in turn provided a list by school per each vaccine day. All schools had a portion of the daily appointments to foster coverage. In 4 months, we reached more than 98% coverage of our community. One unique strategy was the use of therapy dogs for the vaccination efforts for children.
Outline:
1. Puerto Rico and UPR Medical Science Campus COVID-19 Public Health Responses a. To World Pandemic 2. Innovative strategies for Scientific collaboration a. Investigators with diverse interests 3. Use of therapy dogs a. Vaccination efforts for children at vaccine center
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the session, the learner will be able to:
Review the local COVID-19 public health responses in the context of a world pandemic.
List innovative strategies for scientific collaboration among investigators with diverse interests.
Describe the use of therapy dogs in the vaccination efforts for children.
Long-term Goal: Attendees will be able to describe diverse prevention and mitigation strategies useful for the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico and to learn about the integration of faculty and students from five health professional schools in a multidisciplinary and interprofessional approach to vaccination efforts.