CAMAGÜEY.- The asphalt street with the wet earth in its potholes was clean. The gardens on both sides with the tones of red poppy, marilope and greenery accentuated the tranquility of the morning, around the Doctor's Office No. 4 on Verges Street, in this city. There the first dose of Abdala played this Friday to that of the last group of people over 60 years of age.

They had the bulbs from early on, confirmed the nurse Betty Ramírez Domínguez. Each bulb is enough for ten injection. In front of the vaccination center, the first people mentioned were relaxed as part of a meticulous schedule against any crowding.

Eduardo Ferrá López, a salesperson for the UEB Apícola de Camagüey, was also calm there. He was fulfilling the mission of a driver ready for the transfer to the hospital in the event of an emergency situation. From the first day of vaccination, the car with the Apicuba label has been parked.

Patients, waiting for a signal from their family doctor, occupied chairs upholstered with blue vinyl, which surely belong to a neighbor's dining room set. In the neighborhood they collaborate with what they have, for example, from house number 208 is the table and stool used for the books sale point. Another lends his audio equipment for the afternoon session, when the turn of the sound technician Ernesto Moreno Pérez, hired by the Provincial Center for Books and Literature, ends.

When the clock struck around eight in the morning, the most respected and beloved health authority in the place came out. This is Dr. Ladys Pérez Guerra, a specialist in Comprehensive General Medicine. In that community she has forged her professional and private life for 23 years.

The working day opened with the National Anthem. Then, the doctor told about the pilot test with 50 patients, because her office was in the group where she began immunization with Abdala in the town of Camagüey. She explained why she is still called a vaccine candidate and not a vaccine, and described the adverse reactions in the 240 injected up to that minute as minimal.

According to the protocol, it was necessary to examine the pressure, among other details, to give the nurse the shoulder without fear. Parallel to that, Orlando Robert Cabrera offered the artistic dose of him. He works as a technician at the Guiñol Theater, but resides near the place. When he found out about the vaccination, he volunteered to sing as an amateur soloist and to contribute the necessary harmony.

Next to a plant with large leaves was the stand of Nísida Arizón Miranda, a bookseller at the Ateneo Vietnam Cultural Center. She will provide that service for 45 days. Every day, the sales increase as much as the sympathy of the customers. A young woman came to greet her and tell her that she read her purchased book in one go. Now her husband is the next reader of the issue.

Upon discovering my profile as a reporter, I was approached by Juana Sosa Rubio "even though she has white hair," she jokes. She is the owner of the table and the stool. She had her messenger car pointed, but before going to run the errands she wanted me to take note of her healthy pride: "No one has failed my doctor."

It was almost the turn of the second subgroup to vaccinate. Among the ten was Gladys del Valle Baños, 85 years old. Seeing those interested in Nísida's offer, she approached for a reason: "If I don't read, I won't sleep." She bought the 17th princely history notebook, and in a few minutes she left a tremendous lesson. She weaves, sews, helps take care of her bedridden husband, she keeps the daily statistics of COVID-19 and continues to study Grammar as a good Spanish teacher.

When it was time to say goodbye, the day thickened. The sun hugged the clear sky, but the humidity remained as a mark of the day's downpour. However, none of that hindered the flow of immunization against the pandemic in the block of Calle Verges, between San Martín and San José.

In Office 4, last Saturday people between 40 and 59 years of age began to receive the first dose of Abdala. And it will contiene to be another example of organization and fraternity in a community with projects on hold and many dreams to fulfill from minute zero of expiration to COVID-19.

Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez