In 2023, Colombia has experienced a drastic decrease in the rate of vaccination against covid-19, as a consequence of several factors, including, mainly, the lack of a clear policy in this matter, which implies an absence of pedagogy on the part of the National Government so that Colombians do not underestimate the impact of the disease.
It is as if it had been forgotten that vaccination reduces the symptoms of long Covid, for example, and also the risk of hospitalization in the case of people with comorbidities. In fact, it is documented that the country wasted hundreds of vaccines against covid-19. Until last September, there were nearly 7.8 million biological products literally thrown into the trash because they expired before people went to the vaccination points.
The Colombian Society of Pediatrics, SCP, the Colombian Association of Infectious Diseases, ACIN, and the Colombian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology launched a worrying alert in the country, warning of the non-availability of vaccines against covid-19 to care for children, adolescents and pregnant women. | Photo: Supplied
Thus, while entire batches of vaccines were stored until they expired, the coverage of complete schedules and reinforcements in different sectors of the population, including minors, stagnated in all departments.
Precisely, the Colombian Society of Pediatrics, SCP, the Colombian Association of Infectology, ACIN, and the Colombian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology launched a worrying alert in the country, warning of the non-availability of vaccines against covid-19 to care for children. , adolescents and pregnant women.
More than 45 children and children under four years of age in Colombia ended up in an ICU and seven more died from complications associated with covid-19. | Photo: Colombian Society of Pediatrics
They added that “it has been shown that the vaccination strategy has prevented millions of deaths around the world, in addition to complications associated with this disease and that the administration of vaccines to prevent SARS-CoV2 infection in the pregnant population protects women.” pregnant women and confers placental protection and, through breastfeeding, to newborns.”
According to the data available in Colombia, SARS-CoV2 is among the top five circulating microorganisms, as stated in the weekly epidemiological bulletin of the National Institute of Health, INS. And within the five main causes of mortality in children under 5 years of age due to acute respiratory infection. In addition, children under 3 years old represent 30 percent of hospitalizations due to covid-19 in the country.
Medical entities therefore request the management of vaccines for these population groups “and, in addition, in accordance with the international guidelines of the WHO and other expert groups, we recommend the use of updated vaccines taking into account the mutation of the virus and circulation of new variants.
Just this Thursday, Congressman Andrés Forero denounced that a large batch of the Covid-19 vaccines that Colombia purchased this year are about to expire.
“Disastrous. Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo brought bivalent vaccines against covid-19 late and has delayed their application. They arrived between 09/28 and 10/2 and only two months later their territorial distribution began. As of 01/12, only 190 of the 757,400 had been applied and they begin to expire next week,” assured the representative to the chamber for the Democratic Center.
Pediatricians in Colombia promote vaccines for children against covid-19. | Photo: Colombian Society of Pediatrics
What is worrying in various sectors of the country is that, up to that point, according to data from the Ministry of Health itself, the story being experienced in clinics and hospitals is worrying: more than 45 children and children under four years of age ended up in an ICU and seven more died from complications associated with covid-19. Added to this is that more than 600 adults over 60 years of age who were never vaccinated also died.
In Colombia, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection authorized pediatric vaccination in boys and girls from 6 months to 2 years, 11 months and 29 days. | Photo: Mustasinur Rahman Alvi/Eyepix Group/Future Publishing
According to specialists, the complications that can be generated by covid-19 go beyond an acute respiratory tract infection, since hospitalizations are more frequent in young children, as is the need for admission to care units. intensive.
2023-12-07 23:15:36
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