At the weekly press conference given by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) about the update on the situation of COVID-19 in the region, it was reported that the Nicaraguan regime has ensured that more than four million Nicaraguans have the complete vaccination schedule against the COVID-19.
Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, deputy director of PAHO, stated that with the information provided to PAHO, Nicaragua “already has more than four million 700 thousand people vaccinated with the complete schedule.”
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The above numbers represent —according to the expert— 74 percent of the population over two years of age and 70.4 percent of the elderly population.
“Nicaragua has been one of the countries in the Americas that provides information to PAHO every week on people vaccinated for the first and second doses. This information is consolidated in the dashboard of the Pan American Health Organization. It is not a site on the internet and the web, “explained Barbosa.
Regarding the vaccines that the country has received with the support of PAHO, the doctor said that the Ortega government has so far received more than five million vaccines through the COVAX Mechanism “and will receive more than two million vaccines this year by the same mechanism.
He also indicated that Nicaragua also has bilateral agreements to receive donations from other countries, “the good thing is that vaccination continues in the country,” he said.
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Finally, he stressed that the recommendation for Nicaragua and other countries is to continue with the prevention measures against Sarcov-2, identify vulnerable groups such as the elderly, people with chronic diseases and apply the third dose that is recommended for these groups.
«This virus is not going away anytime soon.”
For her part, Dr. Carissa Etienne, director of PAHO, reported that new infections and deaths from COVID-19 have risen steadily over the last four weeks. “Last week our region registered more than 918 thousand cases, which represents an increase of 27.2 percent compared to the previous week.”
Etienne noted that more than 3,500 deaths were recorded. “Hospitalization for COVID-19 increased in 18 countries and admissions to Intensive Care Units increased in 13 countries and territory.
It said that more than half of the infections were reported in North America, where cases have been rising for the past seven weeks. “This rebound is driven by new infections in the United States, where more than 605,000 new cases were recorded, representing a 33 percent increase.”
As for Central America, the PAHO director said that the highest increase in cases with infections is 80 percent. “It is time to take stock of these figures and take action and act. COVID is on the rise again in the Americas. The truth is that this virus is not going to go away any time soon,” she added.
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Another of the points made by the specialist is that after the period of lower transmission, many countries and local governments are abandoning the requirements for the use of massacres, physical distancing and have reopened their borders. “Only 14 of the 51 countries and territories in our region have reached the WHO goals of vaccinating 70 percent of their population.”
The doctor stressed that the increase in cases should serve as a wake-up call to continue taking preventive measures, “because when people get sick, hospitals are overwhelmed, health systems have difficulties and the number of deaths increases ” .
For its part, Nicaragua continues the vaccination process, however every week the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo promote massive activities where crowding cannot be avoided, risking more infections.
