Low influx in vaccination of children between 12 and 13 years old in BC – El Sol de Tijuana

Tijuana.- This week vaccination began for children between 12 and 13 years old without comorbidities in Baja California, but the immunization of this group has been low, according to the head of the state Health Secretariat, J. Adrián Medina Amarillas.

The unit reported that it will publish the doses applied next week, because they have been few.

The low influx may be due to different reasons explained Medina Amarillas, one of them was that as it was Mother’s Day, the schools suspended activities.

The Ministry of Health and Education began a strategy to vaccinate children in secondary schools and due to the celebration activities it has not progressed.

Medina Amarillas reported that it is expected to immunize between 100,000 and 120,000 Baja California infants within that age range.

Although he indicated that almost 40 percent of that group already has their vaccine because they came to the United States to receive it.

Despite the fact that immunization for minors began, and before the return to face-to-face classes, there are still parents who are reluctant to take them to school for fear of possible contagion.

This is the case of David, 11 years old, who is in his first year of high school, and attended Sanitary Jurisdiction No. 2 in Tijuana to be vaccinated on Tuesday, in the company of his mother, Aída.

“I feel fine and also almost have pain in my arm,” he said after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

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Aída explained that even though her son has the first dose, he will not attend face-to-face classes for the rest of the school year.

“Even if they tell us that everything is fine, it still goes on, it still exists, we can’t trust each other […] everyone is going to take care of themselves as they want,” Aída commented on Covid-19.

He explained that he had already spoken with the director of the campus, to indicate that David would not return.

Fernando Becerra Pinales, head of the Unicef ​​office in Baja California, commented that it must be guaranteed that there is sufficient information so that there is no fear of contagion in the classrooms.

“You didn’t go back to class because of the risk of contagion,” he mentioned.

He reported that currently it has been documented that less than 1 percent of girls and boys who have returned to school have been infected.

“The numbers show us that it is one of the spaces in which they could be infected the least,” he said about educational centers.

According to data from the Baja California Ministry of Education, there are 665,717 students enrolled in basic education. Which includes, preschool, primary and secondary. Average attendance is 90 percent.

Despite the vaccination strategy in the state’s high schools, in Tijuana the brigades have only attended three high schools.

On Friday the 13th they attended the General School No. 116 “Siglo XXI”, on Thursday the 12th they attended the General School No. 2 “Reform Laws”, and on Wednesday the 11th they attended the General School No.4 Ricardo Flores Magón.

The Health unit reported that many schools did not confirm that they had been notified by Education to allow the entry of the Vaccination Brigade.

Aída mentioned that the high school that David attends informed them that they would start applying the vaccine, but they did not indicate a date. Reason why he better attended the facilities of the Jurisdiction.

Becerra Pinales of Unicef ​​explained that the pandemic is not over, it is under control, but that there may still be a resurgence of some strain that puts at risk the return to “certain normality” that we are experiencing.

“In that sense, it is important to continue strengthening the authorities,” he commented.

He reported that Unicef ​​is working in coordination with the SEP BC, to promote the return to classes.

Becerra Pinales indicated that it is important to continue improving sanitary facilities, that there are enough sinks, that the quality of water in educational spaces is guaranteed, and that there are clear messages on how to prevent contagion.

In the event that a contagion of Covid-19 is detected, according to the protocols and guidelines, schools must be closed, which has not happened so far in the state, as reported by the SEP BC

The Ministry of Health reported that the brigades will attend schools gradually, and that parents must authorize minors to receive the anti-Covid-19 vaccine.

This authorization can be a responsive letter or the registration form made on the page of https://mivacuna.salud.gob.mx/

In Tijuana, apart from the indicated high schools, minors between 12 and 13 years of age will only be applied in Sanitary Jurisdiction No. 2.

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