Ana Gomes revealed this Tuesday on Twitter that, after three months on the waiting list, she got tired of waiting for the phone call from the pharmacy to say that her dose of the flu vaccine was finally available and that she solved the problem herself. “I just took it, brought by a friend from France,” said the candidate for president of the Republic in that social network. The act, however, violates the rules on the use of medicines in Portugal.
Fed up with waiting for availability at the pharmacy where I signed up in September, I just had a flu shot brought by a friend from France. Worst of all was hearing from pharmaceutical companies that there are vaccines, but reserved for certain people from certain companies, who bought them. How is it, @DGSaude?
– Ana Gomes (@AnaMartinsGomes) December 1, 2020
Contacted by the Observer, the official source of Infarmed, the entity that regulates the medicine market, explained that bringing medicines from abroad for personal use is prohibited. In addition, it is also risky for the health of those who use them.
“The import of medicines for own use by users has no legal support and entails risks to the health of consumers. The conditions of safety, quality and efficacy required for a medication may not be guaranteed, either during the purchase process or during the transport itself. Consumers can only purchase drugs at pharmacies (community and hospital) and in places of sale of non-prescription drugs (MNSRM) ”, explains the regulator.
In the response sent to the Observer, Infarmed further details that “in the case of people who travel to Portugal and who bring medicines for their own use, they must be accompanied by a copy of the medical prescriptions or a statement from the doctor describing the medicines they usually uses ”. This, moreover, can be read in a document published on the regulator’s website, which also clearly explains that “if there is a need to use a medicine that is not authorized / available in Portugal, it must be obtained through a special use authorization, which is only allowed community pharmacies and hospitals. ”
Contacted by the Observer, Ana Gomes guarantees that she did not know that the act was illegal. “I don’t know, nobody told me it was illegal,” he says. The candidate for President of the Republic says, moreover, that the vaccine brought from France by her friend, ended up being administered in a pharmacy, as if one of those available in Portugal were. In that pharmacy, he guarantees, they told him that “normally” they only administered vaccines “from there”, but as they had no vaccines and Ana Gomes had that vaccine, “they registered everything” and “gave the vaccine”.
“They didn’t raise any problems”, he added, explaining that he was asked for the citizen’s card and, after the vaccine was administered, your data was recorded as vaccinated.
Until then, he says, the vaccine was always kept in the freezer and was “whole” when he took it to the pharmacy. “This friend of mine is Portuguese and lives in France, she brought the vaccine to her husband, who is British, but in the meantime her husband had taken it and she had one more vaccine,” said the presidential candidate to the Observer, explaining that this was how had access to the vaccine, after having been waiting since September at your pharmacy. “I not only signed up in September, but I went to several pharmacies to ask and they told me there was no vaccine, I already went to two or three pharmacies and they told me that,” he says.
The candidate for Belém has been heavily criticized on Twitter regarding the publication. “What a shame to tweet. If I was undecided, I just decided on my vote ”, wrote a user of the social network. “These ‘female Trump’ moments are a disgrace. Shame on others. I ordered it at my traditional pharmacy in Gaia and received it. And I’m anything but important. ”
To one of these criticisms, Ana Gomes responded, guaranteeing that did not find “no scheme” and that she only accepted the offer of her friend, who “had brought vaccine for a family member at high risk, who in the meantime had managed to get it”. To the user who criticized her, the candidate for the Presidency of the Republic suggests that she should “unwind”, “for example contemplating the Bugio”.
I didn’t get any scheme. I accepted an offer from a friend who had brought vaccine to a family member at high risk, who had managed to get it in the meantime. How about going to unwind, for example contemplating the Bugio?
– Ana Gomes (@AnaMartinsGomes) December 1, 2020
In the original tweet, the PS activist and 66-year-old former MEP, had also taken the opportunity to directly challenge the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), regarding the report that a pharmacist had made to her, realizing that, despite of the unavailability for the general public, vaccines will be available, “but reserved for certain people of certain companies, who bought them”.
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