Ecuador bets on hybrid herd immunity against COVID-19

President Guillermo Lasso announced that 4 million doses remain available and the possibility of acquiring more to obtain collective immunity in the country. So far the country has 8.5 million citizens vaccinated with the full anticovid regimen, equivalent to 47% of its total population. The new challenges of vaccination against the coronavirus will be the vaccination of minors between 12 and 15 years old which will begin on September 13, the possible vaccination of children from 2 years old and the possibility of applying a third dose.

Ecuador rose from the headlines due to the collapse of the health care system in 2020, and in 2021 became the country that administers the most daily doses of vaccines per 100 people. With an average vaccination of 200,000 people per day, Ecuador has set world records, for example, on July 15 and August 11, 2.5% of Ecuador’s total population was vaccinated each of those days.

One of the offers of the campaign for Guillermo Lasso’s presidency was that in the first 100 days of his government, 9 million Ecuadorians would be vaccinated. The 9-100 vaccination plan promoted by President Lasso officially began on May 31 and will run until September 5, when the target must be met. According to current figures, the target will be met, which is why Lasso has already considered the campaign offer filled, which political analysts say consolidates the political capital the president needs to rule until 2025.

“We respected the vaccination process and all Ecuadorians should feel proud, nine million Ecuadorians are vaccinated with the two doses, it will take us one more day if not 101 days and not 100. The fundamental objective: take care of health, reactivate the economy, demonstrate what Ecuadorians are capable of. , when we unite says Lasso this Tuesday, August 31.

If scientific studies guarantee the effectiveness of anticovid vaccines, Ecuador will start by vaccinating children from 2 years old. The current vaccination plan only envisaged the vaccination of citizens from the age of 16. Also if necessary, the government does not rule out the application of a third dose. The objective would be to obtain the collective immunity, which implies that between 70% and 85% of the population is immune, in this case with the vaccine, against the coronavirus.

Currently, Ecuadorian medical researchers have said: the country is in a phase of hybrid immunityIn other words, there are people who are naturally immune because they have contracted the disease and others who are artificially immune, thanks to vaccines. The combination of these two immunities leaves room for the hybrid which, while good, is not the best case scenario.

According to official figures, so far Over 19.2 million doses of vaccines from four different pharmaceutical companies have been applied: over 11.6 million Sinovac, 5.4 million Pfizer, over 2 million AstraZeneca and over 133,000 single doses of CanSino. This has enabled at least 50% of the citizens of 23 of Ecuador’s 24 provinces to have the full immunization program.

President Lasso said obtaining collective immunity would allow economic reactivation and stressed that there were still 4 million doses of vaccine available. This August 31 Ecuador has received a new shipment containing 321,750 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. With this discount, the country has received more than 22 million doses from different pharmaceutical companies.

A few days before the deadline promised by Lasso in his vaccination campaign, the health ministry has reported that Ecuadorians will even be vaccinated at public transport stations. Until September 13, four transport stations will have vaccines so people can access the vaccine.

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