- Drafting
- BBC News World
—
Image source, Getty Images
—
–
Ecuador declared vaccination against covid-19 mandatory due to the rise in infections caused by the omicron variant, announced the Ministry of Health of the South American country.
–
“This decision was taken due to the current epidemiological status, that is, the increase in infected and the circulation of new variants of concern,” the Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
–
The regulation “obeys” the variant spreading faster than its predecessors, the government said.
–
The Ministry claimed to have the necessary reserves to immunize the entire population.
–
People with any medical condition or contraindication will not have to be vaccinated.
–
According to the Ministry, the Organic Health Law allows vaccination to be declared as a requirement in the face of “certain diseases, under the terms and conditions that the national and local epidemiological reality requires”.
–
The Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, defended the statute according to local media.
–
“We have relied on the laws to take these measures”, He said.
–
According to the newspaper El Comercio, he added: “It is because we want to protect the health of all Ecuadorians.”
–
The minister said that they are evaluating data on the possible community contagion of the variant in the country.
–
As of Tuesday, December 21, 12.4 million people had full doses of the vaccine in Ecuador, representing 77.2% of its 16 million inhabitants.
–
Ecuadorians face an increase in infections after the celebration of the Day of the Dead, Account Independence and the Quito Foundation.
–
An average of 510 daily cases are reported in Ecuador, according to Reuters. The figure represents 22% of the peak of infections registered in May, when the highest average number of daily cases was registered.
–
In total, Ecuador adds 537,032 cases of covid-19 and 33,597 deaths.
–
There was also an increase in the occupation of beds in health centers. In Intensive Care Units the percentage ranges between 24% and 77% occupancy, the ministry said.
–
