RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – More than 10 million Colombians have already received the complete vaccination schedule against Covid-19, a figure that is equivalent to 28.6% of the population that needs to be inoculated to achieve herd immunity, according to the Ministry of Health this Saturday.
According to the health authority, the National Vaccination Plan began last February 17, and as of yesterday, 23,261,038 doses of vaccines from Pfizer, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Janssen were applied’s daily bulletin.
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Of that total, 13,176,565 are first doses, and 10,084,473 people have received the full vaccination schedule (8,455,403 vaccinated with Pfizer, Sinovac, or AstraZeneca, and 1,629,070 with the Janssen single dose).
The Colombian Government has received 30,496,244 vaccines from these four pharmaceutical companies. In the next few months, the first batch of Moderna, of which 10 million doses were acquired, is expected to arrive.
“The Moderna vaccine against Covid-19, which will soon be available in Colombia, is a 2-dose vaccine and must be administered 28 days apart. By receiving the full vaccination schedule, its high efficacy in preventing severe disease and death is guaranteed,” the Ministry of Health said on its Twitter account.
70% OF THE POPULATION TO BE IMMUNIZED
The Government’s goal is to vaccinate throughout this year 35.2 million people, equivalent to 70% of the national population, to achieve herd immunity. With the figures disclosed this Saturday, almost a third of that goal has already been achieved.
The campaign began with health personnel, who have already been fully immunized, and with those over 80 years of age, and has been extended to the population of the other age groups.
Currently, the population aged 35 to 39 years is being vaccinated. From July 23 to 25, a national vaccination day will be held for pregnant women, from the 12th week of gestation and up to 40 days postpartum.
However, the Government has warned that tens of thousands of people who should have already received the second dose have not shown up at the vaccination posts, which prevents faster progress in immunization.
CALL TO AVOID CROWDS
Colombia is beginning to come out of the third peak of the pandemic, which to date has left 115,333 dead and 4.6 million infected, for which the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, asked the population to avoid crowds in the protests against the Government that is scheduled for next July 20.
“From the Ministry of Health (…) we make a strong appeal to Colombians regarding the need to protect ourselves during the next few days and avoid any agglomeration that could again increase the peak of contagions and, unfortunately, the number of deaths in the pandemic,” said the minister.
Ruiz recalled that the country has been “suffering the longest peak since the beginning of the pandemic” and that this situation has been reversing in recent days. Hence, he urged “clearly and forcefully” Colombians to avoid crowds in protests so that infections and deaths do not increase again.