Ecuador makes first booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine mandatory

Ecuador decided to incorporate in the complete vaccination scheme against the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) the mandatory application of the first booster dose due to an increase of contagions in the country, announced on Tuesday, August 2, the Minister of Health, José Ruales.

“We have the projection of vaccinating four million people in the next two months,” said Ruales.

He pointed out that the application of the booster is crucial in risk groups, in the population from 18 to 49 years old, which is the most infected; in those over 12 years old with immunosuppression and in those over 50 years old with comorbidities, who register the highest number of deaths.

In Ecuador, vaccination is mandatory for the target population aged three years and older, which totals more than 16 million people.

So far, 83.9% of the population, a little more than 14 million people, have completed the treatment of the two injections, and 40.36 percent (6.7 million citizens) have received the first booster, according to the Vaccinometer of the Ministry of Health.

The country’s vice-president, Alfredo Borrero, said that the goal is to complete 10 million people vaccinated with the first booster dose by next September and added that the country would no longer require the presentation of the vaccination card for entry to public spaces, except for strategic sites, due to the “high level of vaccination”.

With information from Xinhua