There are currently about 500,000 children aged 5 to 11 years old who have not yet received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,
reported on Wednesday.
Within this framework, Martinez defended the need to assess vaccination rates at schools before eliminating the mandatory use of facemasks.
The official indicated that an average of 2.5 million children between the ages 5 and 11 have already received two doses of the vaccine. They account for 57% of that population. Nonetheless, the ideal is to reach 80% of this age group.
"The country has managed to vaccinate about 3 million children with the first doses (of the vaccine against COVID-19), among children between 5 and 11 years old," Martinez indicated.
"Concerning the second dose, there are about 2.5 million; there, we have a gap of about 500,000 children who have not received the second dose," she warned.
The expert explained that many parents wrongly believe it is only enough for adults in the family nucleus to be properly vaccinated against the coronavirus and that children are less exposed to the clinical symptoms of this disease.
The official indicated that, despite conducting training at schools, most teachers return the vaccination consents for students unsigned.
On the other hand, the specialist spoke about the proposal by the
Ministry of Education (Minedu) that establishes the elimination of mandatory use of facemasks inside classrooms.
According to Martinez, before implementing this measure, it must be taken into account that school classrooms must have at least 80% of students duly vaccinated against COVID-19.
The official noted that this measure implies articulated efforts undertaken by the
Ministries of Health and
Education, in addition to parents, who were asked to sign the vaccination consents for their children.
"From
Minsa, what we propose is to continue with the vaccination process and close the gap," she underlined.
Moreover, Martinez called on parents to take their children to healthcare facilities so as to receive their vaccination scheme against a series of diseases, including polio.
Lastly, she explained that the pandemic has generated a delay in the vaccination process for children so that they can be protected against other types of diseases which are not caused by COVID-19.