Health Minister Hernando Cevallos has announced that decentralized Vaccinathons will be conducted in several regions to speed up the vaccination process and fulfill the goal of reaching 70% of the population with the two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this year.
Thus, in addition to
Lima and Callao, the regions where the intensive vaccination drive will be carried out are Ica, Junin, Arequipa, Piura, and Cajamarca.
According to the minister, this is part of the strategy to tackle the new variant, with few cases reported in the country so far (40); however, there might be others that have not been detected.
In this sense, the government official remarked that the aim is to strongly resume the vaccination drive this weekend as there is sufficient stock available in the batch of doses that have recently arrived in the country.
He went on to say that even though the vaccination is proceeding down the age groups, the priority is to administer the second dose to those aged 60 and over, since the numbers are not very auspicious in this sense.
In statements to Red de Comunicacion Regional, the health sector's head also announced a meeting with regional governors and heads of regional health directorates, to get to know their needs regarding primary care, human resources, oxygen concentrators, and other essential elements to do a good job.
The Cabinet member indicated that in the face of an eventual third wave —given the analyses conducted by various experts— one of the most important things is the avoid getting infected and the other is to get vaccinated, particularly in a country like ours, which lacks a hospital system to contain a pandemic efficiently.
(END) JCB/MAO/RMB/MVB
Published: 8/4/2021