Uruguay: Over 50% of its population fully immunized; parties and public shows cleared

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Over half of the population has been fully immunized. The opening of food courts in shopping malls and the practice of amateur sports have also been cleared.

On Monday (5), social events, parties and public shows were authorized in Uruguay, which has more than half of its population fully vaccinated and where the pandemic numbers show a clear deceleration.

“Public shows, parties and similar social events shall be enabled as of July 5, 2021,” states the decree signed by President Luis Lacalle Pou and the Council of Ministers. The document also authorizes the opening of food courts in shopping malls and the practice of amateur sports.

Movie theaters are authorized in 16 of the country’s 19 departments (provinces). In Maldonado, Canelones and Montevideo -the most populous departments- they will be allowed to reopen from July 15.

The decree, issued on June 25, considers the improvement in the rates of the Covid-19 pandemic in recent weeks, with the country showing a sharp decrease in daily infections and deaths, as well as active cases and people hospitalized in intensive care.

The improvement is explained by the intense pace of the vaccination campaign, which began on March 1, in a country that has never decreed mandatory confinements or curfews for its inhabitants.

Uruguay’s Minister of Health Daniel Salinas on Monday reported that over half of the population has been administered the two vaccine doses and is therefore fully immunized, although he urged the country not to “relax” and to continue maintaining safety measures.

Uruguay reached 50% of its population fully vaccinated on Monday, while another 15% were administered the first CoronaVac, Pfizer or AstraZeneca dose. Only 6.1% of people who registered for vaccination are still waiting to be seen.

In this respect, Salinas recalled that the Government’s goal is to immunize more than 70% of the population and that “this game has not been won,” according to a message on Twitter.

Also through this social network, Undersecretary of Health José Luis Satdjian celebrated the milestone, highlighting the “effort of many people behind the vaccination plan and, above all, of Uruguayans who supported it”.

Uruguay has administered at least one dose to 2,302,717 people, which represents almost 65% of the population, while 1,772,583 citizens have been fully immunized.

The high percentage of vaccinated people adds to the natural immunity achieved by the inhabitants following a peak in infection rates, mainly in April and May, when the country experienced its worst health crisis.

The small South American nation of 3.5 million inhabitants has registered 372,709 cases and 5,689 deaths as a result of the novel coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. By Sunday (4), it had only 11,600 active cases, a third of the peak reached in late May, when there were 36,121 people infected.

Source: Infobae