Guatemalans who this Thursday, January 6, arrived at the vaccination post of the Constitution Plaza complained that they have to wait up to four hours in the sun to access the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while government officials pass without waiting a single minute.
“They are not treating us as it should be. We have been here since 8 in the morning and they tell us that they are going to set up another table and they are going to pass the white-collar workers – officials – and we cannot pass. It is a long time that they have us standing here by other people who have necks that if they let them in. We are all Guatemalans and everyone should not attend as they should, ”said a neighbor who did not identify herself.
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A team from Guatevision and Prensa Libre verified that the Undersecretary of the Executive Coordination Secretariat of the Presidency, Érick Mazariegos, He was vaccinated along with his work team without respecting the line made by dozens of Guatemalans; however, he assured that he complied with the established procedure.
“At no time have I presented myself as an official to receive the dose. I have no escort from the Saas, I walk like any other citizen. If you realize the queues are out there and you are in here, ”reiterated the official who, after the questions, chose to withdraw.
The Presidency was consulted on whether some government officials They have privileges to be vaccinated, but at the end of this note they had not responded to the messages.
The Government of Guatemala decided on Wednesday to reduce the waiting period of the population to be vaccinated with the third dose against SARS-CoV-2, before the imminent arrival of the omicrón variant to the country.
The Guatemalan Ministry of Health reported in a press release that starting this Thursday, all those who were vaccinated with the second dose at least three months ago will be able to receive the third dose.
Originally in December, when opening the third dose for the general population, the health authorities required a minimum of six months since the second dose had been injected.
The decision aims, according to the Minister of Health, Francisco Coma, be able to “very quickly protect a good percentage of the population” in the face of “the growth in the number of recent positive cases.”
Guatemala recorded this Wednesday a total of 1,919 new positive cases of the disease, one of the highest numbers of daily infections in a single day in recent weeks.
Precisely the month of December was one of the lowest in terms of positive cases and deaths from the disease since the first case was detected in Guatemala on March 13, 2020.
However, in the first days of 2022 the numbers of infections have been growing gradually.
Similarly, the health authorities reported three deaths in the last 24 hours, for which the Central American nation adds a total of 16,114 deaths from the coronavirus and 631,730 positive cases during the pandemic.
The omicrón variant has not yet been officially detected in Guatemala, waiting for the results of some tests sent to Panama, since the Ministry of Health local does not have the necessary technology to confirm its presence in the territory.
Despite this, the health portfolio does not rule out that this variant, more contagious than the previous ones, is already in Guatemala.
To the date, 4.7 million Guatemalans, of the 16.3 million who live in the country, They have already been vaccinated with two doses against covid-19. Another 1.9 million people have at least one immunization dose, while the third dose, the booster dose, has been injected into 94,675 people.
With information from EFE
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