Are you interested in an anti-covid vaccine? Well, it will be impossible to acquire it, at least for now. This is because no health center in Cochabamba or authorized point of sale has had immunization doses since October, reported the head of Epidemiology of the Departmental Health Service (SEDES), Rubén Castillo.
The current shortage of the vaccine arose after the available units expired, due to the absence of demand from the population, despite the SEDES applying the “house-to-house” strategy to immunize the population.
45 THOUSAND DOSE
As a result, it is estimated that around 45 thousand doses, of the 2 million existing vaccines, expired in the Llajta. For now, there are no vaccines available even at authorized points of sale.
“Since October, as a department (of Cochabamba) we no longer have vaccines. As is known, the expiration dates ended in that month (…) Now we are seeing the need to require these doses. Unfortunately, we no longer have them available,” said Castillo.
However, with a view to completing the vaccination schedules, the Health entity is waiting for the arrival of a new batch.
Castillo explained that, currently, the global pharmaceutical industry is in full production of the doses.
COVERAGES
In the midst of this panorama, at the moment, coverage of the first dose of the vaccine reaches 76% in the department; at 65%, in seconds; 32%, from the third; 16%, from the fourth; and, at 4%, the fifth dose or the “booster.”
Castillo specified that to “consider a safe population,” the percentage of coverage of the third dose must have reached 85% or 90%. “We have had enough time to raise these coverages, but unfortunately there has not been much acceptance by the population,” he lamented.
Finally, Castillo explained that the doses received previously have the advantage of protecting COVID-19 positives from the new variants and subvariants of the disease, “not in their entirety, but in a certain percentage.”
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2023-12-08 18:30:49
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