On Sunday there will be a mass vaccination day for children in Cali

On Sunday, January 23, a mass vaccination day will be held for the children of Cali. This was announced by the District Public Health Secretariat and the Public Health Network, entities that highlighted that it is a priority to complete the PAI vaccination (measles, rubella, influenza) and against covid-19 of minors.

The mass vaccination day in Cali will be aimed at boys and girls between the ages of three and eleven. For this purpose, the mayor’s office of the capital of Valle del Cauca established five vaccination points in the city.

Parents or caregivers may go with minors to these points: El Ingenio Park, La Estación Shopping Center and Floralia Sports Center, between 8:00 am and 1:00 pm; or to Parque La Flora from 2:00 to 6:00 pm; as well as the Parque de la Caña, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm

Each point will have enough Sinovac biologicals for first and second doses of vaccination against covid-19, in addition to EPI vaccines or vaccination schedule against measles, rubella and influenza.

According to the Secretary of Public Health of Cali, Miyerlandi Torres Agredo, More than 11,900 children between the ages of three and eleven have been infected by coronavirus. He also said that during the fourth peak, still in development, the hospitalization of minors for respiratory infections and covid increased by 20%.

“I call on parents to take advantage of this weekend and vaccinate our children, for the safety of attendance at schools,” said the official from the Cali Mayor’s Office.

Colombia is recertified as a measles-free country by WHO and PAHO

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection reported this Saturday that the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization (WHO) recertified Colombia as a country free of measles, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome.

“Measles is a disease that has an occurrence in the affected population with high malnutrition and lack of adequate medical care and up to 10% of cases can result in death. The fatality rate in America can reach up to 30% in displaced groups and in the last 4 years morbidity has increased in 9 countries. Measles kills and rubella maims,” said Claudia Cuéllar, deputy director of Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.

Colombia was certified in 2014 as a measles-free country and the region of the Americas also achieved such certification in 2015. However, emerging outbreaks arose that led each country to work and achieve their individual certification each year, to guarantee that they really are countries free of measles, rubella and congenital rubella.

The national health authority assured that the sustainability of the elimination of measles, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in the Americas has been affected by the global covid-19 pandemic, as more gaps in immunity are emerging, as well as reductions in the performance of the epidemiological surveillance indicators in almost all the countries of this region.

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