In southern
Arequipa region, nursing licentiate María del Carmen Abarca and nursing technician Nilton Quispe did not hesitate to travel via breeches buoy so as to vaccinate older adults suffering from mobility difficulties.
This way, the Regional Health Management (Geresa) of Arequipa —through the Castilla Condesuyos La Union Health Network and the Huancarqui Micro Health Network— continues its daily fight against COVID-19 administering doses —sent by
Minsa— to protect the most vulnerable population in the area.
"I had to go find a lady in Huatiapa, who recently had hip injury and was not going to be able to come to us, also my grandparents who, due to health problems, cannot move; thus, we went to look for them," Abarca recalled.
This situation occurs very often in remote areas of this region, so health personnel have to seek different strategies to reach out to the population.
This is the case of this team of professionals who —in order to reach out to the elderly— had to cross the Majes River via a mechanism that consists of a table or basket stretched between the two banks of a river or channel to move from one end to the other.
"This time, we protected eight grandparents from Huatiapa population center; we feel calmer knowing that they received their second dose of the vaccine against coronavirus," Quispe said.
After completing their tasks, the greatest satisfaction of health personnel is the gratitude and affection received from patients, as it gives them the energy to continue with this task.