The Departmental Health Service (Sedes) and the Departmental Directorate of Education (DDE) will resume vaccination against Covid-19 and other diseases to improve vaccination coverage in children to ensure a safe return to face-to-face lessons from day one.
The director of the headquarters, Freddy Medrano, announced yesterday that in a meeting with the head of the DDE it was agreed to move the health brigades to different establishments to immunize students against Covid-19 and complete the vaccination program of the expanded program of immunization (PAI) to strengthen the defenses of children.
He stressed that the goal of the campaign will be to intensify anti-Covid vaccination, because immunization coverage in children aged 5 to 11 has remained stable at 58 percent, while in adolescents (aged 12 to 17) it has reached 68 percent.
“At the departmental level, we have 74% coverage, we are missing 26%. This worries us because, in hospitalization and therapy rooms, 80 percent are hospitalized people who do not have the vaccine. What we are doing is looking for new strategies to increase the percentages,” she added.
Medrano explained that another measure being analyzed at the Headquarters Technical Council level was the issuing of certifications to educational units and other institutions staffed with immunization levels above 85%.
He commented that, last year, some educational institutions managed to immunize over 80% of students and teachers, so it would be interesting to acknowledge this achievement.
For his part, the Secretary of Human Development of the Interior, Carlos Solá, announced that parents will be recommended through the DDE to authorize the vaccination of their children so that they complete the regimen with the fourth and fifth dose.
He argued that although the presentation of the certificate of vaccination against Covid-19 is not mandatory to enroll in an educational institution, a way will be sought to raise awareness among parents to protect their children.
He recalled that another strategy that will take effect from January 10 to February 28 to improve coverage is the lottery of a motorcycle among all people immunized with any dose against Covid-19.
No date for the Situation Room
The Secretary of Human Development of the Interior, Carlos Solá, reported yesterday that there is still no call to install the Situation Room in order to define new measures to contain the sixth wave of Covid-19 in the department.
He commented that HQ will be further analyzing the case notification behavior of the lab this week to, depending on that job, see whether or not it is appropriate to set up a meeting.
On the other hand, he stressed that vaccination in schools will be coordinated with school boards so that parents can be involved.
