The COVID-19 vaccination of people aged 65 to 69 years will begin this weekend, after the progress made in the process to immunize people between 70 and 80 years old, Health Minister Oscar Ugarte said on Monday.
On the other hand, people aged 60 to 64 will be vaccinated in the following weeks, between May and June.
"As of this weekend and in the following weeks, those aged 60 and over will be included in the process, thus covering the entire elderly population that the Government of
President Francisco Sagasti pledged to vaccinate before leaving office," the minister explained.
Noting that the population aged 60-69 years numbers 2,300,000, Ugarte stressed that 4,300,000 elderly people residing in Peru will be vaccinated until next July.
"In addition to the population groups at the front of the vaccination line, Peru has already vaccinated its health workers. Besides, National Police members are being vaccinated, while various branches of the Armed Forces have already been vaccinated, as well as firefighters," he noted.
People aged 50 and above
According to the government official, Minsa plans to start vaccinating people aged 50 and older next July.
"This population poses a major challenge. We must secure the vaccines, and that forces us to improve the territorial vaccination strategy, because we have to increase the number of vaccination sites and (vaccination) brigades," he remarked.
Remarks were made during his presentation before Congress' Foreign Affairs Commission.
Published: 5/17/2021