Teachers, soldiers and medical staff will be the first vaccinated.
News Colombia.
In an announcement made through his account in X, President Gustavo Petro ordered the vaccination of the entire Colombian population against yellow fever within a maximum period of two months, after declaring the national health emergency. The measure responds to the advance of the virus outside the traditional jungle areas, now reaching temperate regions of the country.
“In two months the entire Colombian population must be vaccinated against yellow fever. We must do it and our health system must guarantee it,” Petro said.
The president criticized the Congress for ignoring the executive’s warnings: “Congress wasted time thinking it was a lie what we said. Now we proceed.”
To execute the strategy, Petro summoned the army, the teaching and health personnel as key actors of what he called a “crusade for life.” He stressed that soldiers, teachers and health workers must be the first to immunize.
“Every soldier and teacher must be vaccinated as soon as possible. They and the strength of health, which must cease to be treated as a slave, are the axes of this campaign.”
Next Monday, April 21, the President will personally direct the Central Unified Command post (PMU), from where the logistics of this mass vaccination will be coordinated.
In addition, the Council of Ministers will be broadcast by all television chains to inform the virus and the campaign.
Petro warned that, although yellow fever is not transmitted from person to person but by the bite of a mosquito, its lethality can reach up to 50 %, which turns vaccination into an urgent priority. “The vaccine exists and we have it,” he said.
#Release | The National Government declares the health emergency before the active circulation of the virus of the #fiebreamarilla in several regions of the country and the risk of expansion to urban centers.
The measure seeks to protect the life of the population, contain propagation … pic.twitter.com/xinfk7h3os
– MINSALUD COLOMBIA
(@MINSALUDCOL) April 17, 2025
The president praised the department of Tolima, who has already applied more than 200,000 doses, and sent a direct message to the institutions: “It is not for me, I am vaccinated. It is for Colombia.”
In two months the entire Colombian population must be vaccinated against yellow fever. We must do it and our health system must guarantee it.
Congress wasted time thinking it was a lie what we said. Now we proceed.
The army and the teaching must …
– Gustavo Petro (@Petrogustavo) April 18, 2025
