Speeding up the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine third dose is crucial to stay protected from a potential new variant of the coronavirus, given that six million people have not yet received this dose, which is essential to prevent the spread of the infection, authorities from the
Ministry of Health (Minsa) have warned.
"Our third dose coverage reaches 58% today, which accounts for about 16 million people. We need to reach 80%," she said in an interview with Andina news agency.
According to Martinez, herd immunity has not yet been achieved because third dose coverage is still very low.
Therefore, she said, people are at greater risk in the face of the possible arrival of a new variant.
"If a new variant arrives in the country, the first to get sick will be those with high hospitalization rates, as well as those over 50 years of age in general, our health staff who were hit by this pandemic, and immunocompromised patients," the Minsa official explained.
She underlined that, although Peru is among the top three places that have made the most progress in the COVID-19 vaccination process, it is important to reiterate that those who have received the third dose have not reached 80% of the population.
"This left a population deficit of 6 million people who have not received their third dose,” Martinez remarked.
(END) KGR/LIT/RMB/MVB
Publicado: 12/5/2022