Through the Sanitary Authorization for Emergency Use (ASUE), which allows the use of medicines or biological products in emergency situations to protect public health, Invima approved the authorization of Moderna’s bivalent vaccine.
The situation is timely given the increase in infections by this virus at the end of the holiday season and the beginning of work and student days.
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According to the report of the National Institute of Health (INS) cut to June 7, since covid-19 arrived in Colombia, more than 6.3 million infections and 142,000 deaths have been reported.
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It is important to note that, according to the same report, during the first week of June a total of 420 new cases of coronavirus were reported; Bogotá, Antioquia, Santander, Cali and Barranquilla being the main areas that have reported the highest number of active cases.
Another factor that has generated concern about this scenario is the last week of May and the first week of June, when a total of 32 deaths from covid-19 in Colombia were reported to the INS.
In addition, in the same period of time, at least 82 people required an intensive care unit due to complications from covid-19.
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It is important to remember that according to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the bivalent vaccine is characterized by containing “a component of the original virus strain to provide broad protection against covid-19 and a component of the variant omicron to provide better protection against the virus caused by this variant. These are called bivalent covid-19 vaccines because they contain these two components.”
According to the Invima resolution (dated 2022), the vaccination scheme consists of a single dose and must be at least 12 months after the last application. This vaccination update will be for people over 18 years of age with a high risk of complications, who have received at least the first vaccine against covid-19.
It is important to highlight that this authorization is a public health policy tool that strengthens the State’s capacity for action in epidemiological situations such as this.
Experts add that in terms of public health this decision can be interpreted as a measure to deal with the respiratory peak that is taking place in the country and in cities such as Bogotá, Medellín and Barranquilla.
“We thank Invima for managing to have the bivalent vaccine against covid-19 in Colombia for the high-risk population, which are the elderly and people with chronic diseases. This is excellent news for the country, since we are crossing a new epidemiological peak of covid-19; which is present not only in Colombia, but also internationally,” added Javier Arango, president of the Colombian Association of Internal Medicine (ACMI).
And it is important to highlight that this excellent advance measure of the government is intended to protect the population over 60 years of age, who have been one of the most affected, to the point of having a “greater probability of becoming seriously ill if they become infected, ( …) dying at a rate five times higher than the average”.
All older people with underlying diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions or cancer, are more likely to develop serious illness.
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This authorization by the Institute, in addition to being timely, was very necessary for Colombians to continue caring for the most vulnerable, updating their vaccination schemes and informing their community about the availability of vaccines, to continue with control over long-term treatment of respiratory infections, as recommended by the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization.
2023-07-10 16:49:31
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