The COVID-19 vaccine will continue to be a requirement to obtain a health certificate

Vaccination against COVID-19 It will continue to be a requirement to obtain a health certificate, in addition to the DVRL and Tuberculin venereal disease test, the secretary of the Health DepartmentCarlos Mellado Lopez.

Despite the fact that new government flexibilizations regarding measures in the face of the pandemic came into force today, including the elimination of the vaccination mandate in general terms, there are also exceptions.

“We are going to continue with the effort to guide, vaccinate, we are going to continue with the contact tracing effort and with genomic surveillance, because we do not know if a variant will come in the future, the pandemic is not over,” the secretary declared during an interview with The new day.

Mellado López emphasized that, although the vaccination mandate was ruled out by executive or administrative order, this does not mean that the vaccine is not necessary both now and in the future.

“I suppose so, that we are going to have to continue with the vaccine. I also suppose that another type of vaccine will come, covering the different variants that have impacted the world”, stressed.

“COVID is going to continue. Influenza arrived in 1918 and we still have to get vaccinated”, added the secretary, by way of comparison.

With the entry into force of Governor’s Executive Order 2022-019 Peter Pierluisiand the administrative order 2022-533 of the Secretary of Health, the mandatory requirement of the mask in public and private places was greatly relaxed, but this also includes exceptions such as the classrooms of public and private schools, the homes of long-term care for the elderly, correctional institutions and health institutions, such as hospitals and others.

In long-term care homes, for example, “we saw during this process of [repunte por] ómicron, that people over 65 years of age who had diseases, even vaccinated, unfortunately died, ”said Mellado López, explaining why the use of the mask will continue to be required in these places. Furthermore, since the start of the pandemic, the elderly population has been the most prone to hospitalization and death from COVID-19, as well as people with pre-existing chronic health conditions.

In addition, measures such as the requirement to present evidence of vaccination -with two doses or three doses- to attend massive events of 1,000 people or more-, or present a negative test for coronavirus, continue to be active, although the capacity limit in the establishments.

“Right now we have 90% of our citizens who have already been vaccinated or [es] convalescent, who has some type of antibody or immunity, “said Mellado López.

Mellado López anticipated that he will remain vigilant in the coming weeks for the effects of the relaxation of the measures against COVID-19. “At least two weeks, three weeks, a month go by, and we see that this remains stable and we can then start with other flexibilizations,” he said.

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