Many communities in Shanghai are doing their homework on vaccination, putting on "invisible protective clothing" for the elderly to deal with the virus

Standing prevention and control of the new crown epidemic, vaccination is the most critical link to build a strong immune firewall. The new crown virus has been raging for more than two years and is always mutating, but the results of research and prevention and control practices show that vaccination still provides good protection against pneumonia, severe illness and death caused by mutated strains of Omicron ba.4 and ba.5.

To protect the elderly and other vulnerable groups against the virus, the reporter recently visited the Shanghai Community Health Service Center and found that the community has done its homework and provided patient services and meticulousness to help the elderly to wear "invisible protective clothing" for vaccination.

Answering vaccination concerns for elderly people

"A total of 66 doses of the new crown vaccine and 4 doses of the flu vaccine were administered." At 5 p.m., Jiangsu Road Street Community Health Service Center in Changning District completed the day's statistics, most of which were people returning to Shanghai from abroad and planning to leave the country, but there was no shortage of elderly residents. Family doctor assistant Bao Yijun told reporters that recently, many elderly people have taken the initiative to walk into the community hospital to consult on matters related to vaccination, "As members of the family doctor team, we have built up a deep trust with the residents in our daily work, and also answered their questions and solved their problems when they were confused."

Eighty-nine-year-old Uncle Wang just finished his second vaccination, "After experiencing the epidemic in Shanghai this year, I found that my old friends in the district who had received the vaccination were in pretty good health, which also gave me new ideas." Bao Yijun jurisdiction area in Qishan neighborhood, "last May, Shanghai started the first batch of people aged 76 and above to register for the new crown vaccination appointment, when we consulted Wang old man's opinion, but he had concerns."

It turns out that Wang has high blood pressure and diabetes, and he was worried about the side effects of the vaccine and the impact it would have on his underlying condition. In June this year, when he was dispensing medication in the community, he took the initiative to ask about it, and Bao Yijun patiently answered each of his concerns.

"We recommend that elderly residents, such as those with hypertension, should be vaccinated after regular medication to keep their blood pressure stable below 140/90mmhg." To make old man Wang more at ease, the doctor checked his blood pressure and blood test report before the vaccination, and on the day after the vaccination, Bao Yijun also made a special phone call, "For each senior vaccinated person, we will make a phone call back to ease their nervousness and also provide them with follow-up life and health advice."

In order to "respond" to residents' vaccinations at any time, Bao Yijun also joined the neighborhood residents' WeChat group to help vaccinators with operational difficulties to make appointments online.

Patiently guiding the completion of inhalation vaccine

The new inhalation vaccine, which was launched not long ago, has also become a "new favorite" among the elderly. At less than 9 a.m. on Monday, a queue was already forming at the registration area of the vaccination site at Gucun Town Community Health Service Center in Baoshan District.

The medical staff at the community health service center worked together to talk about vaccination precautions and demonstrate instructions for the vaccinated.

Old man Zhou, who lives nearby, completed the inhalation New Crown vaccination under the guidance of the staff. "I was due for my third vaccination, but I saw the news of the inhalation vaccination a few days ago, so I wanted to come and experience it." The medical staff prepared a nebulizer cup for old man Zhou and patiently instructed him to nebulize the vaccine with Zhou's special drug delivery device before handing it to the old man.

The inhalation vaccination is divided into three steps: the first step is to avoid the nebulizer cup and take a deep breath; the second step is to hold the nebulizer cup nozzle in the mouth and inhale deeply until there is no fog in the cup; the third step is to hold the breath for at least 5 seconds. Zhou old uncle easily completed all the processes, waiting in the detention area, "nothing special feeling, I heard a little sweet, but I think the sweet taste is relatively light. Now winter clothing is heavy, put on and take off inconvenient, this inhalation vaccine is quite suitable!"

According to the introduction, the inhalation vaccine is suitable for people aged 18 years and above who have completed 6 months of basic immunization. Currently, inhalation vaccine is only used for booster immunization and cannot be used for basic immunization. The results of related studies have shown that sequential boosters of immunization with inhalation recombinant neocoronavirus formulations and inactivated vaccines can significantly enhance the immune response.

Relieving the elderly for smooth vaccination

"The nurses here are good at giving injections, and they finished before they felt any pain." Wang, who just completed her first dose of the new vaccine, gives a thumbs up. She is nearly 80 years old and is physically fit, but she is afraid of needles, so she delayed the vaccination.

Wang's children followed some official WeChat public numbers and were exposed to a lot of epidemic prevention and health-related science during the current round of the epidemic, and explained to Wang.

Wang's mother gradually understood that after the vaccination, the elderly would be less likely to develop critical illness or even die even if they were infected with the new coronavirus, which was equivalent to putting on an invisible protective suit for the elderly.

So after all the psychological construction, Wang, accompanied by her son, came to the Taepuqiao Street Community Health Center to receive the first dose of the new crown vaccine. The registration staff understood that the granny was afraid of the injection and immediately informed the security doctor that the security nurse Xiao Cao would accompany the granny throughout the vaccination.

Cao kept talking to Wang to distract her and helped her to complete the vaccination successfully. After the vaccination, Ms. Wang praised the nurse, saying, "I won't panic about the second or third vaccination in the future.

In response to the vaccination concerns of the elderly, Professor Hu Bijie, director of the Infection Department of Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, said that the overall symptoms of the Omicron variant are relatively mild, but there is still a risk of serious illness in vulnerable people (especially the elderly), who are one of the groups that need priority protection. This group needs extra care because they are not vaccinated and are at increased risk of serious illness and death if they become infected with the new coronavirus.

With the new coronavirus epidemic overlapping with the high incidence of respiratory infections in the fall and winter, the Shanghai Health Care Commission recommends that elderly people who have not been vaccinated recently should also be vaccinated as soon as possible, and those who have not been vaccinated throughout should make up for the unvaccinated vaccines as soon as possible, including the booster shots.