This February 17 marks one year since the start of the National Vaccination Plan in Colombia and, regarding this, the Minister of Health Fernando Ruiz assured that It is not yet time to eliminate the use of masks in closed spaces “Although it is a possibility in the future,” said the portfolio manager in a statement.
According to Ruiz, the ministry is holding talks with the Epidemiological Advisory Committee, in which they have determined that Colombia “is behind in what corresponds to the impact of covid-19, in relation to European countries”, which is why, the elimination of the mask depends on the uncertainty of the appearance of a new variant in the world.
In this regard, the minister indicated that the Committee “will continue to analyze the issue and make a decision.”
End of peak per omicron
Regarding the state of the pandemic in the country, Ruiz explained that although new cases have decreased at the peak due to the omicron variant, “only until the third week of March we will be reaching the minimum level”.
“I believe that we will still have an important time in which we have to protect ourselves in closed spaces,” Ruiz emphasized.
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In the same statement, he clarified that the Compulsory vaccination has not been considered by the national governmentl. Also, he called for parents to continue immunizing their children “we have 56% of boys and girls with a dose and 28% with a complete schedule,” Ruiz said.
Regarding the progress of the National Vaccination Plan, the Ministry of Health reported that all population groups are above 70% with the full immunization schedule. “We are left with (…) those under 19 years of age and the population between 20 and 29 years of age,” said the minister.
Regarding the possibility of a fourth dose of the vaccine, he said that scientific evidence suggests that does not represent an appreciable gain in terms of immunity.
“The important thing is to complete with the third dose, in which we are at 7.5 million people; the population over 60 years of age has good coverage, but you have to look for all those over 18 years of age, ”she pointed out.
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