At least 7 million 382 thousand 510 vaccines against the coronavirus are about to expire in Guatemala, as reported this Tuesday, January 4 authorities of the Ministry of Health to deputies of the Social Welfare Commission of the Congress of the Republic, who raised doubts about whether the sanitary portfolio has the capacity to supply them before they expire.
Sulma Bernal, who assumed the coordination of the National Immunization Program, He acknowledged to the deputies of said commission that the doses of Sputnik V vaccines that entered in the last week of 2021 will expire between next March and April.
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When making the calculation, it is evident that there are 3 million 29 thousand 900 doses that entered in the last days of December and which would expire as of the third month of 2022.
Bernal also acknowledged that 1,185,634 doses of Russian vaccines will expire on February 28, while on March 31 another 100,000 doses of the drug will expire.
Faced with this situation, deputies questioned about the response of Health to the vaccination process and it was determined that around the country a week about 300 thousand doses of all vaccines are applied.
Regarding Sputnik V, Eliú Mazariegos, general director of SIAS, He stated that there are between 150 thousand and 200 thousand doses that are supplied per month, which suggests that it is not possible to take advantage of the one million 185 thousand 634 doses of Russian vaccines that will expire on February 28.
Also read: How do I know when I get the third dose against covid-19 in Guatemala?
During the summons, no authority detailed whether they have a strategy to take advantage of the vaccines and prevent it from being lost or whether the pharmaceutical companies guarantee a product change.
At the end of the summons, an attempt was made to know the version of the health authorities, but none of those who attended wanted to give a statement.
Other vaccines that expire
- Modern: 2 million 901 thousand 530 doses, between March and April
- AstraZeneca: 427,690 doses, March 31
- Pfizer: 1,023,390, on June 30
Existence of vaccines
- Modern: 3 million 101 thousand 530 doses
- AstraZeneca: 427 mil 690
- Pfizer: 1,023,390
- Sputnik V: First component 2 million 385 thousand 634 and second component 2 million 806 thousand 093
- Total 9,744,337
To date, 4.7 million people have been vaccinated in Guatemala with two doses against the coronavirus and another 1.9 million with at least one dose. In addition, 91,323 Guatemalans have received the booster dose.
Figures
Guatemala arrived this Tuesday, January 4, to 16,111 deaths from SARS-CoV-2 and 629 thousand 811 positive cases of the disease, after accounting for one more death from the coronavirus and 1,007 new infections in 24 hours.
According to the update on the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, 7,736 coronavirus tests were carried out on Monday and 1,007 of them were positive.
Also read: Prolonged Covid: these are the symptoms and what is known about this type of infection
In addition, the health portfolio registered a new death caused by the coronavirus, whose first case was detected in Guatemala on March 13, 2020.
The Ministry of Health also reported that 4,778 people are infected with covid-19 in Guatemalan territory, although the figure is an “estimate”.
The official report of the authorities indicates that the accumulated incidence is 3 thousand 735 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants, while the fatality amounts to 2.6%.
Cases and deaths have been declining in Guatemala during the last three months, But the country presided over by Alejandro Giammattei continues with the highest figures in Central America in both infections and deaths.
Health authorities warned in December that contagion cases may increase in the coming days due to the accumulation of people in social gatherings and in tourist centers during the end of the year holidays, in addition to foreign visitors.
Guatemala has not yet confirmed the presence of the omicron variant in its territory because it is waiting for the return of samples sent to Panama, since the Ministry of Health does not have the capacity to carry out the tests that can detect it.
With information from EFE
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