Vaccines against COVID-19: Ministry of Health Ensures Proper Storage and Cold Chain Monitoring

Vaccines against COVID-19 are found throughout the country and the Ministry of Health (Minsa) frequently monitors the correct storage and cold chain to guarantee their use, said the Vice Minister of Public Health, Ricardo Peña Sánchez.

During his presentation before the ‘Special Commission for Monitoring Emergencies and Risk and Disaster Management-COVID-19’ of the Congress of the Republic, the official stressed that all vaccines are within their useful life.

“The response capacity is guaranteed and there is no demand that exceeds it, but we urge people to get vaccinated because the virus spreads and COVID-19 is going to stay,” said the vice minister.

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Peña Sánchez reported the measures and strategies implemented to face the new EG.5 variant in our country and announced the prioritized actions to strengthen the vaccination process against COVID-19; as well as strategies to strengthen prevention against diseases that are generated as a consequence of the start of the El Niño Phenomenon.

He commented that although the new variant is not lethal and does not cause complications of the disease, it is very contagious, which is why it causes problems in vulnerable people and those with chronic diseases.

“The main intervention is vaccination. The bivalent vaccine protects against these new variants and the Minsa develops an aggressive vaccination campaign. We have traveling brigades in all the directorates of Integrated Health Networks (Diris), regional health directorates (Diresa) and regional health management offices (Geresa) to reach vulnerable populations […]. Vaccines are safe, effective and free,” she remarked.

He recalled that Minsa’s goal, until the end of the year, is to vaccinate nearly 3 million people who belong to vulnerable groups, considering that most of the patients who died in recent weeks from COVID-19 did not have all their doses.

Peña Sánchez maintained that the Minsa awaits the approval of the Contingency Plan against the Effects of El Niño and Heavy Rains 2023-2024; however, he has participated in the elaboration of the multisectoral plan against the possible FEN, led by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the National Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci).

“The Minsa develops preventive and preparation actions to have an effective response to the effects of the FEN, as well as plan the actions during and after the event,” he concluded.

2023-09-07 13:47:30
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