Nicaragua closes the year 2021 with 40% of its population immunized against covid-19. In total, 2.6 million people completed their vaccination schedule – of two or a single dose that corresponds to the inoculant Sputnik Light – to protect themselves from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its mutations, according to data updated until December 22 by the Organization. Panamericana de la Salud (PAHO).
However, PAHO statistics disagree with the government’s covid-19 vaccination figures. Vice President Rosario Murillo assured this Thursday, December 23, that 76.5% of the population two years of age and older had already been inoculated. However, neither Murillo nor the Ministry of Health (Minsa) have presented a report with the breakdown of the percentages by age groups, type of vaccine received, municipalities and departments.
With 40% advance of vaccination –7.3 million doses applied and 4.6 million people with one dose-, the country managed to meet the immunization goal set by PAHO for the poorest countries in the region this year. However, Nicaragua still lags behind neighboring countries such as Costa Rica (67%), Panama (64%) and El Salvador (63.3%), which lead the region in mass immunization coverage against the virus.
Although Nicaragua has made significant leaps in terms of speeding up vaccination, going from less than 10% to 40% of its population in a matter of two months, the country faces another great challenge pointed out by national and international epidemiologists: stopping the promotion of the agglomerations that increase the risk of community contagion and the appearance of new variants of the virus -including omicron-.
The arrival of millions of vaccines from November to date -between purchases and donations-, facilitated the acceleration of vaccination, which had been demanded by independent specialists. However, that is not enough, warn the experts and PAHO, who called on the countries not to lower their guard, especially after the appearance of the omicron variant -which seems to be more contagious-, which has already been detected in more than 80 countries, including neighboring Costa Rica and Panama.
During the 21 months of the pandemic, the Minsa has reported 17,844 infections and only 216 deaths, data that contrasts with those registered by the independent Citizen Observatory, which refers to 31,269 suspected cases and 5,964 deaths related to the virus until December 15, 2021.
Nicaragua accumulates 14.4 million doses against the pandemic
With the arrival of 505 550 AstraZeneca doses donated by Japan through the COVAX mechanism and the 800,000 doses of Sinopharm, that complement the million serums promised by China -then the Ortega regime reestablished diplomatic relations with Beijing-, the country accumulates 14.4 million doses corresponding to seven different vaccines: Pfizer, Covishield-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, the Cuban Soberana 02 and Abdala; and the Russian Sputnik V and Sputnik Light.
The AstraZeneca batch arrived in the country this December 24 at the Augusto C. Sandino International Airport in Managua and was delivered to the Minister of Health Martha Reyes by the Japanese Ambassador, Yasuhisa Suzuki, representatives of PAHO, the World Organization of the Health (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
This is the third time that Japan has helped Nicaragua to fight the pandemic, after a donation of vaccines that it made in conjunction with other countries last November, and the contribution of 1.5 million dollars for the country to acquire appropriate medical equipment to face the covid-19. That same Friday, the government announced that it had received from China, its new political ally, the second donation of Sinopharm vaccines.
With information from Efe.
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