RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday, March 22nd, Uruguay will cover 10% of its population with the first Covid-19 vaccine dose, with Pfizer and Sinovac’s immunizers, in a prompt deployment when the country is suffering one of its most complicated epidemiological moments since the emergence of the coronavirus.
According to Ministry of Public Health data, 314,363 people have already been administered the first vaccine dose, about 9% of a total of 3.4 million inhabitants. However, almost 28,000 people are scheduled to be immunized this Monday, which means that 1 out of 10 people will have been administered the first shot of the vaccine.
As a result, Uruguay is consolidating its position well above the world average vaccination rate, which is currently below 6%, irrespective of the differences between wealthy countries and poor nations with no access to doses.
There are hundreds of thousands of people registered in the Ministry of Health’s system and with pending appointments, a figure which grew considerably in recent hours after a special quota of 170,000 vacancies was opened for anyone between 18 and 70 years of age, to be vaccinated between March 29th and April 2nd, known as Tourism Week, the official name of the period coinciding with Easter Week. In total, 750,000 people are registered, the majority of which are still waiting for new quotas to be released.
These 170,000 people will be immunized along with another 72,000 in the groups defined by the authorities, which means that a total of 242,000 people will be vaccinated during this period. After that, the vaccination schedule will be resumed with the regular calendar by age groups.
According to the Undersecretary of Public Health, José Luis Satdjian, the goal of enabling mass vaccination of people aged between 18 and 70 was “an initiative of President” Luis Lacalle Pou “to include the whole population in the vaccination plan,” he said.
Uruguay is currently experiencing its most complicated moment since the start of the pandemic, with unrelentingly worsening figures. On Sunday, the National Emergency System (SINAE) reported that 1,625 new Covid-19 cases had been detected in the country, raising the total number of infections to 81,537 since the start of the pandemic.
The number of active cases also increased, with 13,015 people infected, an almost 5% rise compared to the day before. Of these, 175 patients are hospitalized in intensive care units. Furthermore, Uruguay added another 15 SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus deaths and now totals 791 fatalities.
Faced with the “worrying evolution of the pandemic” in the country, the Uruguayan National Academy of Medicine on Sunday urged the population to be vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and to continue respecting health measures to stop the spread of the disease.
In a statement addressed to the population, the institution emphasizes that it considers it “imperative” to ask Uruguayans to comply “with the maximum degree of personal and collective responsibility” in order to control or mitigate infections. Accordingly, it maintains that people should continue wearing masks, keeping a physical distance and washing their hands, as well as avoiding any type of in-person social activity, particularly the organization of or attendance at events or parties.”
On the other hand, the statement stresses the importance of Uruguayans participating in the vaccination process, “irrespective of the type of vaccine to be administered.”
Source: infobae