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The news is encouraging, as it falls in the midst of a time when infections and deaths are on the rise and the Intensive Care Units (ICU) report an increase in their occupation.
However, as President Iván Duque put it, this is not the time to lower our guard; Self-care mechanisms should be reinforced: the use of a mask, hand washing and physical distancing, avoiding crowds, especially at Christmas and New Years.
“This is a call for responsibility and a message so that this Christmas we avoid crowds and do not expose our loved ones,” said Duque.
What’s coming
The president assured that the agreements with Pfizer (10 million doses) Astrazeneca (10 million doses) and Covax, of the World Health Organization (for another 20 million doses), will serve to immunize 20 million Colombians, since two doses of the biological are required.
To achieve the so-called herd immunity, 70% of citizens will be required to access the vaccine, that is, 35.7 million, according to projections from the Ministry of Health.
The vaccination plan will start in January with logistics and the application is expected to start in February. For this, the country will have to buy 44 freezers, since Pfizer’s vaccine needs to be kept at a temperature of -70ºC. The laboratory promised to deliver the doses at the point of application, explained the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz Gómez, and during 2021, the Government aims to apply 34,234,649 vaccines in two phases.
The first phase will have three stages, covering first-line healthcare workers and support personnel and adults over 80, a population of 1.6 million.
The second stage will be for the population between 60 and 79 years of age and second and third line health personnel, equivalent to 7.1 million people.
And the third will include the population between 16 and 59 years old with comorbidities and teachers of basic and secondary education, who represent 2.9 million people.
In the second phase, two stages are contemplated, the fourth and fifth of the entire immunization process.
The penultimate stage will shelter institutional caregivers and the employed population in risk situations, which covers 4.9 million people. And in the last one is the population between 16 and 59 years without comorbidities, a group that represents 17.4 million people.
“We have 7,920 vaccinators with a daily capacity to apply 277,200 vaccines,” said Ruiz Gómez, who stressed that “we have sufficient capacity, but there are distribution issues that will involve us supplying personnel in some places where there are deficiencies.”
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