The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, launched, this Saturday, a call to the Ministry of Health: Bogotá needs two million vaccines.
“Bogotá needs at least two million vaccines to avoid a third wave (…) For that we need self-care, protocols, a culture of care, but, Minister, Bogotá urgently needs two million vaccines to be able to vaccinate everyone over 60 years old before MayWe all know that they are the ones most at risk of being infected, getting worse and dying, “said the president this Saturday, when she was on her way to a Security Council in Sumapaz.
(You may be interested in: This is how the vaccination appointment for people over 80 years old can be scheduled)
To date, of the 2,115,816 vaccines that Colombia has received, Bogotá has received 244,021. Of these, at the cutoff on Friday at 5 pm, 153,727 had been applied: this is just 2.45% progress towards the goal of 70% of the immunized population to achieve the so-called herd immunity.
At this moment, the capital is advancing in the vaccination of health personnel (11,667 have already received, even the second dose of Pfizer) and of adults over 80 years of age.
But, for López, it is urgent that the city receive those two million doses to reach the population over 60 years of age. “People over 60 are those who end up occupying a little more than half of intensive care beds“he explained.
This is precisely the indicator that puts Bogotá against the ropes in the spikes of contagion. In the latter, ICU occupancy was around 93%.
Actually, Saludata indicates that the general ICU occupancy is at 60.6%, of which those aimed specifically at covid-19 patients are 52.2%.
(To continue reading: First case of Brazilian variant detected in Bogotá)
“Bogotá is in capacity and it is a source of pride: it has grown again to 400 vaccination points. It has already installed eight coliseums for mass vaccination. If they give us more vaccines, we can double the vaccination posts. We can reach 800 without problem, but we have to achieve by May to have all first, second and third line personnel vaccinated with their two doses and those over 60 years old with their two doses. That is our best insurance. That if we have a third peak it is not so critical, it is not so serious “, highlighted the president.
However, he recalled that the containment of a third wave does not depend only on vaccines but also on the self-care of all citizens.
‘We had warned it’
The mayor also referred to the news of the detection of the first case of the Brazilian variant in Bogotá. It was an adult over 84 years old who died on January 28, 2021 after being infected. What is worrying for the health authorities is that the man had not traveled to the Amazon.
“We had warned about it and it was wanted to trivialize. The strains circulate not because someone does something wrong, but because that is how viruses are, “said López who, precisely, at the beginning of January, had suggested that new variants had begun to circulate in Bogotá.
However, faced with the case, he called for calm: “It is not prevalent. Fortunately, they are specific cases,” he said.
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