With 78% of the population with the first dose and more than 75% with both, the vaccination campaign to give the booster vaccine against the coronavirus does not have the pace that the authorities expected. According to data from the vaccination monitor of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) only 42% were given the Pfizer booster dose and the reality in each department is quite different. While in Montevideo exceeds 47%, in departments like Cerro Largo, Río Negro and Treinta y Tres only 33% is booster vaccinated.
The reasons given by the departmental health directorates are different but the absence of a People to People campaign, as was done at the beginning of the vaccination campaign, is mentioned by the different departmental directors. The Ministry of Public Health has not yet authorized vaccination without an agenda and, therefore, this type of campaign cannot be carried out. In addition, the period of six months that it is necessary to wait to give the third dose can also influence some cases.
The department with the highest percentage of its vaccinated population is Flores with 48%, they follow Montevideo, Durazno Y Colonia that exceed the 47%, then with more than 45% appear Lavalleja.
At the other extreme, the departments with the worst percentages are Cerro Largo Y Thirty-three with the 33% of its population and Black river with the 32%.
The departmental health director of Treinta y Tres, José Quintín Olano, told The Observer who sees with “concern” the current health and vaccination status of the department. He recalled that during the first stages of the vaccination campaign, the departmental government went out to vaccinate “door to door”, having reached different towns and neighborhoods where vaccination had not caught on with the Pueblo a Pueblo and Barrio a Barrio campaigns. That, he stressed, Today it cannot be done because the Ministry of Public Health still reserves the supply of the third dose with a prior agenda.
“We had vaccine tourism from nearby towns but it has cost a lot to convince a certain nucleus,” he said. “As for the third dose, There are six months between which you can give yourself the second and the third. So we still have people who have not yet met the deadline to receive it.“He added. For his part, he also added that they did a survey to find out if the percentage of those not vaccinated was centered on a certain locality or age range but that they were unable to determine that one of these two variables is affecting the percentages of vaccination.
In the same vein, the director of Departmental Health of Río Negro, Juan Andrés Montaño, expressed himself. The doctor assured that there are still people who did not meet the deadline to take the third dose, so “that may be one of the reasons” for the low attendance. At the same time, he pointed out that with the vaccination campaigns without an agenda, it was also possible to reach a certain nucleus, something that is not happening now.
MSP sources assured The Observer that for now It is not planned to start campaigns such as Pueblo a Pueblo and Barrio a Barrio., where vaccinations were installed in different locations to provide vaccination without a prior schedule.
Vaccination by age
Although the third dose in Uruguay is far from the percentages of the first two doses, it is one of the countries with the best rates in the world. Currently, according to the Our World in Data site, it is only below Iceland, Chile, the United Kingdom, Bahrain and Israel in third doses administered per 100 inhabitants.
Regarding age range, the lowest numbers are registered among the youngest, but this is mainly explained because they were the last to be able to be vaccinated.
However, at the other extreme, those over 75 years of age, who are at risk population due to their age, are also lagging behind. Just the 50% of them are vaccinated with the third dose and have a difference of almost 20 percentage points with the band of 65 a 74 years.
This is due, according to what the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) told El Observador, because those over 70 were initially vaccinated with Pfizer and that vaccination campaign began later than those who received the first two from Sinovac.
The population with the highest third dose coverage is the one between 55 and 64 years with 73,13%, followed by that of 65 a 74 with 68,91%. It is followed by people who are 55 a 64 with 65,05% and of 35 to 44 years with 57,65% of the vaccinated population.
The exhortation to get vaccinated is not only from the government authorities, but also also from scientists who closely follow the march of the pandemic. Although Uruguay is in a privileged situation compared to other countries, the experts emphasize in unison that we must not lower our guard, insist on the fact that the pandemic has not ended and underline the importance of the third dose.
The head of the Immunization Unit of the MSP, Graciela Pérez, told The Observer that before the arrival of the South African variant is “fundamental” that those who have not given the third dose, do so in the short term. “It is very important that people adhere to the protection measures and that they get vaccinated,” said Pérez.
In the same vein, Adriana Delfraro, a virologist from the Faculty of Sciences and a member of the CNAV, called “Not rest on your laurels” and explained that the normal thing is that over time the immunization capacity of vaccines decreases, so the third dose is key to strengthen protection against the virus.
“The antibodies are stimulated again and although they are not totally neutralizing, for a matter of quantity they collaborate and help you, at least, have a milder infection”, said the expert. The Observer on the benefits of giving yourself the booster shot.
In addition, he clarified that the fact that the response decreases with the passing of the months “does not mean that the vaccines are bad” and stressed that there are already evidence that reinforcing protection with vaccines of different characteristics, as in the case of the first two from Sinovac and the third from the Pfizer laboratory, can generate “better responses in the body”. “It is not something that has been seen for the first time now, it is something that is known from vaccinology in general,” said Delfraro.
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