At a slower rate than expected, the dose of the bivalent vaccine against Covid 19 has been applied in our city.
Since February 2, when this new process began in municipal vaccinations, 1,167 people were immunized at one time for two viruses, one for the original one, the one that was born in China, and the rest against the Omicron variant, which is which is currently circulating.
“The number seems lower due to the high expectations that had been generated around the landing of this bivariate vaccine, especially since many people were asking for it,” acknowledged Maximiliano Nuñez Fariña, executive director of Sanitary Region I.
However, the average number of people injected has remained stable in recent months.
“While vaccination was in the hands of the province, the average was between 90 and 120 vaccinated per day in the Railway Union. And today it is 95-96, so we consider it to be within normal parameters, ”he noted.
The peak of infections that occurred in our city between November and the first days of January is one of the causes of the low adherence to this new vaccine.
“Many people were vaccinated in that month and a half with the traditional vaccines and therefore were unable to receive the bivariate as the 4 months did not elapse between each application. And it must also be clarified that it is only used as a reinforcement of complete schemes”.
Precisely, according to Núñez Fariña, the fear is that it drives the growth of inoculated.
“It is a characteristic that we have always seen. When contagion peaks occur, people go more to vaccinations. Those numbers are growing in parallel.
Nuñez Fariña, executive director of Sanitary Region I.
Therefore, the provincial official appealed to raise awareness among the population.
“You have to understand that we are still in a pandemic. There is something that is clear: when there is not so much circulation of the virus, people relax and do not go to vaccinations. For this reason, our mission is to find tools and strategies with each municipality so that people keep their guard up at all times”.
In fact, hand in hand with the pediatric vaccination campaign, the director of Health Region I pointed out that itinerant vaccination activities are planned to be carried out in schools starting in March.
“There is a stock of vaccines. At the end of January, the country received 100,000 doses. In these days it will receive a million more from Pfizer and by mid-March the 3 million from Moderna will arrive”.
In total, 788,355 doses against Covid have been applied in Bahia so far, distributed as follows: 293,00 (first dose), 266,495 (second), 34,788 (third, additional for immunocompromised and for those over 50 years of age who had received Sinopharm), 136,167 (first reinforcement), 45,762 (second reinforcement) and 12,201 (third reinforcement).
Of the 1,167 vaccinated with bivalent, 57% were women and 43% men. And the age range that predominates (with more than 50%) are people over 60 years of age.
“It is the group of people who know that they are more compromised in case of infection and practically normalized the application of a dose every 4 months,” explained Núñez Fariña.
It is important to clarify that the bivalent vaccine is not used to start a scheme, because that is what the rest of the vaccines are for. The ideal is to approach a vaccination to find out what scheme each one is in.
“The booster dose is always considered after four months with respect to the previous inoculation. In the case of the bivalent, it is the same,” said Ñúñez Fariña.
In this sense, the most exposed people continue to be people over 60 years of age; those with underlying diseases (comorbidities) and those who do not have the complete scheme.
“It is proven that the vaccine served to combat Covid. Today in Bahia there are around 100 active cases, but practically none at risk. There are already few cases that are complicated by this disease and the fatality rate has been significantly reduced. Life is pretty much normal for everyone.”
vaccination centers
The following are the vaccination centers where bivalent vaccines are already available:
–In General Cerri: Antonio Menghini Health Center, 25 de Mayo 396, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
–In Ingeniero White: Leonor Capelli, Lautaro and Paul Harris Health Center, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
–At Villa Mitre: Garibaldi 149, at Coloso VM, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
–CAPS Maldonado, Richieri 2535, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
–CAPS San Dionisio, Rondeau 2214, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
–Villa Ressia Health Unit, Misiones 1570, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
–La Falda, Humboldt 56, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
–Barrio Patagonia, Lauquen 356, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
–Centro Cono Sur, Caronti 72, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“They have a great advantage over current vaccines”
In Argentina, 31,589,121 people have already received a booster vaccine dose against COVID. Those doses had been enabled in November 2021. But the coronavirus pandemic is still going on and as the protection of the doses decays over time, the application of booster doses is required.
To the range of vaccines against COVID that have been part of the country’s strategic vaccination plan, which began in December 2020, doses of bivalent or bivariate vaccines have now been added.
“The bivalent or bivariate vaccines have a great advantage over current vaccines, since they were made from the original Wuhan strain. But after two years of the pandemic, the virus evolved and other variants of SARS-CoV-2 began to circulate that escaped the immune response,” said the infectious disease doctor Ángela Gentile.
Gentile, who is a member of the National Vaccine Safety Commission, clarified that monovalent doses (which are the ones that are applied from the start of the vaccination plan) are still good for preventing serious illness and hospitalization.
“The bivalent vaccines will allow acting on transmissibility: being bivariate they will provide more efficacy to stop transmission, then, by reducing the circulation of the coronavirus, those who still have incomplete schemes will also benefit,” he closed.
