Quito, March 2 Ecuador applies anticovid vaccine boosters to adolescents from 12 to 17 years old if six months have elapsed since the second dose of the vaccine administered, the Ministry of Public Health reported this Wednesday. Under the new guidelines released by the Ecuadorian Health Portfolio, those over 12 years of age and up to 17 years, 11 months and 29 days can already be vaccinated in the country, the age group that will receive booster doses from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer-Biontech at any immunization point in the national territory. The population of adolescents in the target age range is 2 million, according to the official website Vacunómetro, a digital tool where data on vaccination in the pandemic is reported. The provinces of Guayas, Pichincha, Los Ríos and Manabí are the ones with the highest population in this age range. As in all cases of children under 18 years of age, the boosters also require prior informed consent, which must be given by the parents or legal representatives at the vaccination centres. In the latest guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, it is explained that the placement of the booster is maintained for those over 18 years of age, with five months elapsed since the second or only vaccine, in the case of single doses. Those of AstraZeneca or Pfizer will be applied to this age group, according to availability. While those who received a single dose of the Chinese Cansino will receive the same biological. With the application of the reinforcement, it is expected that the population will have a better immune response against the SARS-Cov2 variants, which cause the disease. Ecuador began immunization against covid-19 for children aged 3 and 4 last week, after carrying out a massive vaccination campaign since the end of 2021 from the age of 5. Until the beginning of the week, 4.1 million reinforcements have been administered in the country, according to official data. The daily report on the vaccination plan against covid-19 in Ecuador, dated February 28, specifies that 31,989,116 vaccines have been applied, of which 14,224,616 correspond to first doses, 13,565,023 to second applications and 4,199,479 reinforcement.
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