Santo Domingo.-Demand for yellow fever vaccines tripled in 2022 and is evidently sought after by Dominicans and foreigners looking to emigrate illegally.
The vaccine is mandatory for travel to countries in South America, a region that is sometimes used as a route to the United States and Europe.
Haitians and Venezuelans abound in the Santo Domingo Health Center, as do dozens of Dominicans, an increase that surprised authorities, since the drug was not in high demand. For example, previously about 20 people were vaccinated a day, and this number has risen to nearly 250 a day in recent months.
In this sense, the public health, after conducting a survey on the surprising increase in vaccinations against this disease, has warned that the countries to which applicants travel the most are El Salvador, Nicaragua, Brazil and Venezuela.
Added to these is Guatemala, where there are currently Dominicans who have not been admitted to that territory because they did not have the requisites to travel and which already had (at the beginning of December) 1,165 people who had been prevented from entering that country.
Since last year we have seen how some people have decided to leave the nation in search of that ‘American dream’, becoming nightmares for many who see their attempt frustrated when they return to the country or die along the way.
It is recalled that just in December 2021, 12 Dominicans died and three were injured while traveling closed in a trailer (trailer) that had an accident in the city of Chiapas, Mexico.
The tragedy has alarmed the practice of using the migration route through South and Central America, which has increased this year with the surge of Dominicans embarking on the famous “tour through Mexico” and Guatemala.
Unusual
Health Minister Daniel Rivera said it was “not normal for so many people to be vaccinated against yellow fever”. Rivera said most of those who attend the Health Center are not seen as tourists or professionals.
those who leave
Andreína only knows that she wants to improve the quality of life for her and her daughter, so she’s sure that leaving is the best option. For this she sold all her trousseau. According to what they told her, she will travel to Panama and then to Honduras, where she and whoever will accompany her will look for a ‘coyote’, which is the person who helps migrants to arrive clandestinely in a country, in her case the United States.
Data of interest
—1— Exorbitant
According to the OPS and the Rotary Fund, 18,000 doses have been purchased this year, almost quadrupled, compared to 5,000 in 2019 and tripled to 6,000 in 2021, but not all have been applied.
—2— They demand it
In the case of Venezuelans who have come because of the crisis, they need the vaccine to return.
