In just two years, the pandemic caused the coverage of the vaccination scheme in the Panamanian population, especially children, to go from 95% to 40%, authorities from the Ministry of Health (Minsa) warned this Saturday when, together with GSK, they launched the campaign “Get vaccinated on time Panama”, with which they hope to recover coverage.
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In just two years, the pandemic caused the coverage of the vaccination scheme in the Panamanian population, especially children, to go from 95% to 40%, authorities from the Ministry of Health (Minsa) warned this Saturday when, together with GSK, they launched the campaign “Get vaccinated on time Panama”, with which they hope to recover coverage.
The campaign has a virtual vaccination assistant where those interested according to their age group will be able to access a platform and find out what vaccines they require, information about the same vaccine and in which health facilities they can receive them.
Depending on their needs, the general population, that is, newborns, children, adolescents, adults, pregnant women, and the elderly, will receive rotavirus, polio, tetanus, and diphtheria, among others. Access the platform Your vaccination assistant.
Panama’s immunization scheme has 25 vaccines, which prevent a total of 30 diseases, all free of charge at the health facilities of the Minsa and the Social Security Fund (CSS).
“Vaccines are not important only for the little ones, since even if a person has received all the vaccines in childhood, the protection of some of them may disappear. There the need for annual reinforcements and to follow the vaccination schedule according to age, commented Itzel de Hewitt, National Coordinator of the EPI of the Minsa.
For the EPI representative, the fall in coverage of the scheme is a shared responsibility, because in the midst of the health crisis due to covid-19, the population refrained from going to health facilities, which is understandable, since patients with covid are cared for in these sites; In addition, the closure of schools or the suspension of face-to-face classes is added.
“We have evaluated that influenza was a vaccine that was put in its entirety in the midst of the pandemic, because it was a respiratory virus and the population that knew that covid-19 is a respiratory virus applied the vaccine in all the places where we had openings. for it, but not the other vaccines in the schedule,” de Hewitt said.
The EPI representative also explained that in the case of vaccination of children in study centers due to the pandemic, vaccines exclusive to that population, such as the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, were no longer brought to these sites. which is administered to both genders, for the prevention of cervical cancer or cancer of the cervix, anus, penis and genital warts; in addition to the tetanus diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine.
For her part, Lourdes Moreno, national head of Epidemiology of the Minsa, urged the population to go to the health facilities of the Minsa, the CSS or individuals, so that they receive the vaccines they require, to avoid co-infection or two vaccine-preventable diseases. at the same time, such as covid-19 with another disease. “We have the vaccines and it is a matter of responsibility to arrive in a timely manner,” she said.
Moreno highlighted that Panama being in a fourth wave of covid-19 infections, the country had a strong health system that did not collapse; however, the vaccination coverage of most of the deaths occurred because they did not have the complete vaccination schedule, with the older adult population being the most affected.
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