Uruguay hopes to reach 10% of its population vaccinated with the first dose against COVID-19 on Monday

Uruguay will reach 10% of its population this Monday vaccinated with the first dose against COVID-19, with Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines, rapidly deploying as the country goes through one of the most difficult epidemiological moments since the appearance of the coronavirus.

According to data from the Ministry of Public Health, 314,363 people have already received the first dose of vaccines, or about 9% of the 3.4 million inhabitants in total. However, as of Monday, nearly 28 thousand people have a round for the vaccination, so with this, 1 in 10 people will have received the first injection of the vaccination.

In this way, Uruguay consolidates well above the world average for immunization, which is currently less than 6%, regardless of the differences between rich countries and poor countries without access to doses.

In total, there are hundreds of thousands of people registered in the Ministry of Health system and with a pending change, a figure which has risen sharply in the last hours after a Special quota of 170,000 places for anyone between 18 and 70 years old, get vaccinated between March 29 and April 2, called tourism week, the official name of the period that coincides with Holy Week. In all 750,000 candidates had been registered, the majority of whom were awaiting the release of new quotas.

These 170,000 people in service will be vaccinated along with 72,000 others who belong to groups established by the authorities, so a total of 242,000 will be vaccinated during this period. Thereafter, the vaccination rhythm will resume with the regular calendar of age groups.

As stated at The country the Under-Secretary for Public Health, José Luis Satdjian, the objective of allowing mass vaccination between 18 and 70 years was “at the initiative of President” Luis Lacalle Pou “to involve the entire population in the vaccination plan”.

Increase in infections and registration of active cases

At the moment, Uruguay is going through its most complicated moment since the start of the pandemic, with figures that do not give a truce. This Sunday, the National Emergency System (Sinae) reported that 1,625 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the country, with which the total number of infections has reached 81,537 since the start of the pandemic.

Too, the record of active cases has risen, with 13,015 people suffering from the disease, an increase of nearly 5% compared to the previous day. Of these, 175 people are admitted to intensive care units

In addition, Uruguay added 15 more deaths from the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and reached 791 deaths.

Frente a “preocupante evolución de la pandemia” que vive el país, the Academia Nacional de Medicina de Uruguay exhortó el domingo a la población a vacunarse contra el coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 ya continuar respetando las medidas no farmacológicas para frenar el advance de disease.

In a statement addressed to public opinion, the institution underlines that it considers “imperative” to ask Uruguayans to comply “with the maximum sense of personal and collective responsibility” to control or mitigate infections. In accordance with this, he argues that people should continue to wear masks, maintain their physical distance and wash their hands, as well as avoid any kind of face-to-face social activity, “especially organizing or participating at events or celebrations “.

On the other hand, the declaration details the importance of Uruguayans present to be vaccinated, “regardless of the type of vaccine that corresponds”.

(With information from EFE)

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