The application of doses of vaccines against the coronavirus tripled in the last week driven by an increase in the perception of risk in the face of a significant increase in cases and the need to have protection due to the proximity of the holidays and summer, which for specialists It is “good news” since it is key to give yourself the reinforcement doses.
Although we are far from the record of applications that occurred in January 2022 when almost 600,000 daily doses were placed, the rate of vaccination against Covid-19 that reached a floor of almost 10,000 applications per day in October of this year, it began to grow since November but had a shot this last week.
“On Friday, November 25, 30,481 doses were applied and on Tuesday, December 6, 89,053, that is to say that in one week the applications tripled; and if the average of daily applications is analyzed, which allows avoiding fluctuations on weekends and holidays, the number also triples,” accountant Martín Barrionuevo, who analyzes data since the beginning of the pandemic, told Télam.
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For her part, the infectious disease physician Florencia Cahn described that “the situation of Covid-19 in Argentina is related to an increase in the number of cases reported between this week and the previous week with an increase of almost 300 percent.”
“This increase is not yet reflected in hospitalizations, serious cases and death, but an increase is observed that has already been sustained since the last four weeks,” he added in dialogue with Télam.
At this national average, the City of Buenos Aires and the province of Buenos Aires are the jurisdictions that register the greatest increase in cases.
According to the Coronavirus Situation Room of the Ministry of Health, of the 12,609 confirmed cases in the last week, 5,134 are from the province of Buenos Aires and 6,032 from the City.
“We are seeing an increase in cases, there are many people who consult and swab themselves on guard duty. On the other hand, we have many patients hospitalized for other causes who start with symptoms and when swabbed they test positive, so we are having again isolation zones that we hadn’t had for a while,” said Martín Hojman, an infectious disease doctor at the Rivadavia Hospital in the Buenos Aires district.
Cahn emphasized that “in this context, the recommendations are to start or complete vaccination schedules and apply booster doses.”
“In this sense, from the Argentine Society of Vaccinology and Epidemiology (SAVE) we are carrying out a campaign called ‘Take the Red from Covid’, which is related to applying the reinforcement doses that correspond to us to be really protected, “he described.
The infectologist recalled that four months after the last dose, protection against the virus is waning. “That is why we are calling on the population to apply the corresponding booster dose according to each case, age and health conditions and not wait for any other vaccine,” he insisted.
The specialist explained that “all people 18 years of age or older have to have two doses and two boosters, that is, they have to have at least four doses applied in total to be truly protected.”
In relation to the pediatric population, he explained that “the booster is indicated from the age of 3, that is, boys between the ages of 3 and 17 who are not immunosuppressed must have two doses and a booster. For those who have immunosuppression from the age of 12 years a second and third booster is indicated”.
This week, the Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, stressed that “Those who were last vaccinated more than four months ago can get a new dose” and noted that “reinforcement (whether the first, second or third) is especially important for those over 50 and for people with risk conditions.”
In reference to the vaccines that are being applied in Argentina, Cahn pointed out that “they are safe and effective for reinforcement and also as a primary regimen.”
In the same sense, Hojman expressed that “the vaccines that are in the country provide protection and it is very important to apply reinforcements in the current context.”
The comments of both specialists are linked to the debate on whether apply the vaccines that are in the country or wait if a “bivalent” arrivesthat is, one that contains, in addition to the Wuhan strain (the initial one), some of the sublineages of the Ómicron variant, which is the one that is circulating the most at the moment.
In this sense, the message of the specialists is clear: “There is no need to wait, reinforcements must be applied now.”
“It is also key to resume care: ventilate the rooms, wash our hands, use masks in closed and poorly ventilated places and obviously stay at home if we are sick and feel bad, regardless of whether it is Covid-19 or any other virus. “, they concluded.
Vizzotti: “There is a stock of vaccines in all provinces”
By Correspondent
The Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, affirmed this Wednesday in Corrientes that the coronavirus “is not going to disappear” and urged that Argentines apply vaccination reinforcements “to maintain immunity.”
The national official spoke after meeting with Governor Gustavo Valdés, delivering ambulances and medical equipment, and leading various activities in the capital city.
The minister referred to the increase in coronavirus cases, which rose from 3,000 to more than 12,000 in a week throughout the countryto the importance of immunization, and assured that “there is sufficient stock of vaccines in all provinces.”
“The 24 health ministers from all over the country have been saying it, the virus is not going to disappear”Vizzotti affirmed in dialogue with the press and called for “approaching the vaccinators to receive reinforcements, especially those over 50 years of age and people with risk conditions.”
“We need reinforcement to have immunity, there is no way that there is no Covid, but if we are vaccinated it will not translate into hospitalizations and deaths,” he remarked.
In this regard, the Minister of Health mentioned the Omicron outbreak last summer and noted that “there were up to 900,000 cases per week, and that did not translate into hospitalizations and deaths because we have a very important part of the population vaccinated and reinforced up to date”.
Next, he expressed that “we had eight thousand people with Covid admitted to intensive care and now we have less than 300; It is another message to reinforce vaccination ”.
On the other hand, he also insisted on the compliance with the schedule of all vaccinations.
“We have to have all the vaccines and avoid preventable diseases,” he remarked, while recommending that all medical check-ups be carried out and mentioned the late diagnoses of cancer that occurred during the pandemic.
For his part, Governor Valdés referred to the meeting on his social networks and specified that they analyzed the health policies that they apply jointly and “the Vaccination Campaign against Covid-19 and the dengue prevention campaign, so important in the summer season ”.
After arriving in Corrientes this Wednesday, Vizzotti was received at Government House by the president and, later, she developed various activities together with the provincial Health Minister, Ricardo Cardozo.
The national official handed over nine ambulancespresented a connectivity system through antennas (Empresa Argentina de Soluciones Satelitales Sociedad Anónima AR-SAT) for hospitals and CAPS and SAPS in the province.
