{"id":63840,"date":"2021-02-05T12:11:51","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T15:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=63840"},"modified":"2021-11-03T20:08:23","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T23:08:23","slug":"energy-insecurity-may-disrupt-vaccination-in-communities-thoughts-from-the-cesar-maia-favela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=63840","title":{"rendered":"Energy Insecurity May Disrupt Vaccination in Favelas: Thoughts from C\u00e9sar Maia, in Rio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

This article is part of a series on energy justice and efficiency in Rio\u2019s favelas<\/a>. It is also\u00a0our latest article about\u00a0Covid-19 and its impacts on the favelas<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I live in C\u00e9sar Maia<\/a>, a community in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s West Zone<\/a>. To be more precise, it is located in a district called Vargem Pequena<\/a>. The community’s official name is Conjunto Bandeirantes <\/span>I and II, but it’s known as C\u00e9sar Maia because the Conjunto<\/em> (public housing complex) was originally built during Mayor C\u00e9sar Maia\u2019s first term<\/a>, in 1996.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

It is a relatively new favela compared to others in the Jacarepagu\u00e1<\/a> region such as Rio das Pedras<\/a> and City of God<\/a>, both of which emerged in the 1960s<\/a>. [It is common for public housing in Rio de Janeiro to grow informally, and thus be eventually recognized as favelas rather than formal housing.] Although it is a \u201cnew\u201d community which was built by the State, C\u00e9sar Maia experiences a similar problem to many favelas in Rio de Janeiro: blackouts.<\/span><\/p>\n

They occur randomly throughout the year, but seem to intensify with the arrival of summer; especially at night when people return home after a day\u2019s work and turn on their fans and air conditioners. In short, the power grid has not kept up with the favela\u2019s expansion,<\/a> and I believe this to be the cause of C\u00e9sar Maia\u2019s energy problems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

We have a Family Clinic<\/a> here in the favela\u2014the Professor Maury Alves de Pinho Family Health Clinic<\/a>\u2014which is constantly being affected by the poor services provided by Light<\/a>, Rio\u2019s electric utility. The Clinic has three community health teams which tend to the needs of the combined populations of C\u00e9sar Maia<\/a>, Coroado, and Horizonte, all favelas in Vargem Pequena. As you can imagine, this clinic provides an essential service\u2014<\/span>hard to come by around here\u2014<\/span>to the population.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As in most Family Clinics, there\u2019s a vaccination room, which is a sad reflection of distributional injustice<\/a>. About five years ago, they needed to replace the refrigerator that stores vaccines due to constant power cuts which occurred mainly at night. In one of these blackouts, the vaccines had to be transported to another health center so the doses would not go bad. Now the clinic has a cold chamber for vaccines which runs on internal batteries, and can last up to 24 hours without electricity.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is worth pointing out that the Family Clinics will become Covid-19 vaccination units<\/a> and, as in previous vaccination rollouts, will be open to everyone, and not just residents of their respective communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

How many other communities have Family Health Clinics and also experience constant blackouts? Have they all managed<\/a> to replace their refrigerators, a necessary action given the terrible energy service provided to them? Will favelas, amid this energy neglect, be able to store Covid-19 vaccines? What will be the impact of both energy inequality<\/a> and distributional injustice on the inoculation of Rio\u2019s favela populations?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

As favelas do Rio e a vacina da covid-19. As Cl\u00ednicas da Fam\u00edlia e Centros Municipais de Sa\u00fade ser\u00e3o pontos de vacina\u00e7\u00e3o. Nem todas as unidades tem geradores de energia. A falta de luz na favela \u00e9 di\u00e1ria e as vacinas precisam de refrigera\u00e7\u00e3o, se n\u00e3o, v\u00e3o ser perdidas. Ai ai<\/p>\n

\u2014 Michel Silva (@eumichelsilva) January 12, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n