[ad_1]
The migrant population in Colombia residing and regularized will be able to access vaccines against covid-19 in the same way as the rest of Colombians and under the same prioritization criteria, explained the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz Gómez.
The minister indicated that there are three groups of migrant population. The first is from foreigners residing in Colombia, who are identified in the databases of the Ministry of Health and – in accordance with the Statutory Health Law – have the right to the same health coverage as any Colombian citizen.
In this sense, they will be vaccinated taking into account the prioritization criteria established for the country, the minister clarified.
(Read also: With 1.7 million doses of Pfizer vaccination begins in February)
He added that “in the case of the Venezuelan population (registered as a resident before the Colombian government) There are around 800 thousand people, who are identified and with those people we will be on vaccination issues”.
There is another group of transitory migrants, who are very difficult to locate due to their transitory condition and for whom it is almost impossible to follow up from the health services because they do not have a defined residence.
Finally there is the pendular population, that is, that enters and leaves the country. “To this population, neither from the legal framework nor from the technical considerations is there an obligation to attend to them (…) These populations will not be active subjects of the vaccination program, as they do not generate herd immunity, since these people would immediately return to their country, generating a congestion effect in the services, of not controlling the vaccination scheme and not programming ”, said Ruiz Gómez.
(You may be interested in: Only half of Colombians would get the covid-19 vaccine)
However, for that to happen, Ruiz indicates that, after reviewing immunization experiences in other countries, it is necessary that people are fully identified, regardless of their nationality, to achieve an effective traceability of the process.
“The population has to be identified in what are called nominal bases, where people register name, ID, EPS, comorbidities, what vaccine was applied, what adverse effects it may have had, and all the evaluation is made in the case of events are presented, until the evaluation by the Institute for the Evaluation of Health Technologies (IETS), as defined in the new Vaccine Law ”, said the head of the Health portfolio.
The minister recalled that in Colombia the coverage of the health and insurance system is 97 percent, according to the latest data from DANE, therefore, a large part of the Colombian or resident population is already in the Portfolio’s databases and they may be contacted for their vaccination.
It should be remembered that the Ministry planned the prioritization of vaccination based on technical arguments and the available evidence and some principles: prevalence of the general interest, solidarity, equity and justice, effectiveness, progressiveness, transparency and beneficence.
(See: More than 4.6 million people in Colombia already had covid-19)
This was explained by the Deputy Minister of Health, Luis Alexander Moscoso, adding that based on these principles and guidelines, the objectives for prioritization were determined. “Which were divided into two phases, the first that aims to reduce mortality, the serious effects of the disease and protect health workers; and a second that seeks to reduce contagion.”
In this way the general objective is to vaccinate 34 million Colombians, However, there are some population groups that were not chosen to be vaccinated such as those under 16 years of age, pregnant women and people who already had covid-19, which have a degree of immunity for a time.
Prioritization criteria
In other words, the prioritization criteria were based on evidence, on the best findings and results. “The first criterion is age, mortality definitely increases with age, for example, mortality in people older than 90 years can reach 25%, 15% in people over 85 years of age, but in people over 55 years of age it is 0.14%, as the age decreases, the risk of getting sick decreases, “Moscoso explained.
The comorbidity criterion was also associated, since definitely comorbidities such as: hypertension, diabetes, kidney failure, COPD, asthma, HIV, cancer, tuberculosis, hepatitis, obesity, among others, increase the possibility of having negative effects.
“But we also have prioritization criteria such as the risk of contagion in some professions, for example, health workers, people from the military and police forces, flight attendants, firefighters, drivers, assistants ambulance workers, teachers, prison guards. They have a higher degree of exposure so this criterion was also taken in the prioritization phases, “he concluded.
(We recommend: Covid-19, on the way to being the first cause of death this year in Colombia)
HEALTH UNIT
