With the Mu in view: the progress of a new variant

The Mu variant already accounts for 14% of infections in Chile, which has a similar scenario to our country

The government has assured that it is closely watching the development of the Mu variant of the coronavirus, detected for the first time in Colombia and which is also spreading through Ecuador, and is trying to speed up the vaccination campaign to be able to reopen the borders to tourism. from countries like Paraguay.

“In the region, there is a careful look (towards the Mu variant) in relation to where it appears and the speed of its transmissibility,” Argentina Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, admitted yesterday from Rome , where she participates in the G20 of Health.

“We have discussed this with many ministers, including the Spanish (Carolina Darias (with whom Vizzotti spoke on Saturday in the Italian capital), and it is a firm position that Argentina also brings to the G20: as long as not all countries can agree to vaccinate its population, there will be the risk that new variants will appear and that what has been achieved will be regressed, ”he stressed.

Therefore, the cabinet of Vizzotti and Alberto Fernández is committed to “accelerate vaccine production and improve access for all countries”.

In Argentina, 65% of the target population has already been vaccinated with at least one dose and just over 35% have completed the cycle.

The intention is to continue increasing this percentage before reopening to foreign tourism and reaching at least 45 to 50% of the vaccinated population, while starting to vaccinate adolescents over 12 years old.

PROGRESSIVE OPENING

From Rome, Vizzotti also said that in Argentina they are starting to organize massive events, domestic tourism is growing and they are thinking again of student trips, which “had been an activity that had reported many cases” of contagion.

“As long as all countries do not have access to vaccinate their populations against the coronavirus, there will be a risk that new variants will emerge and that what has been achieved will be regressed”

Carla Vizzotti
health Minister

“Foreign tourism is the next step”, declared the minister while specifying that the Delta variant “is not predominant” in the country and that “it is being controlled”, but that it still needs ” save time to complete vaccination schedules “. “Before authorizing external flows.

The health official hopes that “between September and October” Argentina will be able to reach the goal of reaching at least 45% of the population with the complete vaccination schedule and “depending on the vaccination coverage and the epidemiological situation In other countries “, it is possible to speak of” the gradual and cautious opening of borders “.

NEARLY 60 MILLION VACCINES

Argentina has already received more than 57 million vaccines, including more than 400,000 donated by Spain, a file that Minister Vizzotti thanked her Spanish counterpart Darias on Saturday during a bilateral meeting within the framework of the G20.

“Argentina has greatly intensified vaccination, it has reached the capacity to inoculate between 9 and 10 million doses per month”, but also work has been done to control the Covid with other actions, such as strengthening the health system, the increase among others, “60% of the number of ventilators in modular hospitals at strategic locations,” said the Minister of Health.