The Ministry of Health of Honduras reported through its social networks that at least 103,611 Nicaraguans were vaccinated with doses of Pfizer and Moderna, in the vaccination posts that they set up in the departments of Choluteca and El Paraíso, bordering Nicaragua.
Likewise, they reiterate that these Nicaraguans are guaranteed the application of the second dose once the 28 days established between each of the doses are met. This means that vaccines will begin in this group by the end of next week.
However, it is unknown whether the authorities of this country will open the border crossing so that the population can enter without the need for pre-check and PCR tests, as happened last day.
The number of Nicaraguans who were vaccinated in Honduras could be higher considering that several have traveled since the end of September, when Nicaragua passed the highest peak of covid-19 in the entire pandemic. In addition, there were families with greater resources who traveled to the capital to get vaccinated, according to CONFIDENCIAL.
Nicaraguans traveled more than 300 kilometers for vaccines
The vaccination day for Nicaraguans in the border area of El Espino, Las Manos and Guasaule was carried out between October 21 and November 6, as a result of a massive displacement among residents of the departments of Chinandega, Nueva Segovia, Madriz who sought vaccines in the neighboring country due to the dose limitations in Nicaragua.
Faced with these mobilizations, the president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, instructed “the Ministry of Health, Migration and Customs, so that they can establish vaccination points in the communities so that people are not crowded.”
However, the displacement of Nicaraguans worsened after the vice president and state spokesperson of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, confirmed that the vaccination of young people, children and adolescents would be with doses of Sputnik Light, Soberana 02 and Abdala, vaccines that are still in phase study and are not approved by international health organization.
“There were many who gathered at the borders from the cities of León, Masaya, Chinandega, Matagalpa, Estelí, Granada and Managua to demand the vaccine against Covid-19. Many came with families, friends and others who gathered to buy travel packages ”, detail the Honduran authorities.
Only in the first two days that the vaccination posts were opened at one of the borders, 7,139 were applied. In the following days it rose to 51,126 until it doubled that number. The days were so extensive that the lines were up to five kilometers long and the Health personnel ended at dusk, according to local media.
Minsa denies vaccination to foreigners
In addition to vaccinating Nicaraguans, Honduras also lent Nicaragua 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines so that Minsa could initiate the inoculation of pregnant women, postpartum women and infants, after there was a delay in the arrival of a donation sent by the United States through of the Covax Mechanism.
However, despite the demonstrations of solidarity on the part of Honduras, the case of a Honduran adolescent who lives in Nicaragua was known, who was denied vaccination because she did not have residency documentation in two health centers in Managua. dthey announced to the media Article 66.
This case is not isolated, weeks before the case of a young man of Nicaraguan parents was known, but who was born in Costa Rica, who was not allowed to be vaccinated in Nicaragua either because he identified himself with his Costa Rican identity card, because he has not processed that of Nicaragua. Also, in mid-October, The Ministry of Health has denied the vaccine to a pregnant woman of Costa Rican origin who has lived in Tola, Rivas, for seven years, but has no documentation.
On the other hand, Costa Rica made the vaccination against COVID-19 more flexible for thousands of Nicaraguans living in this country with irregular status, in addition to applying doses to those who have legal status or are refugees. According to official data, this country has vaccinated more than 360,000 Nicaraguans.
