MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Omicron arrived in Uruguay: Uruguayans need to get their third dose of vaccine, minister says

Salinas also admitted a fourth dose of vaccine could become necessary later next year

Uruguay's Health Minister Daniel Salinas Wednesday confirmed the presence of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country, which also heralds an overall increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.

The new strain is also believed to be the cause of the increase in infections in recent weeks.

“What they have been able to confirm is that the Omicron variant entered our country,” Salinas told reporters at the Executive Tower.

Salinas also explained Uruguayan health authorities were expecting Omicron to behave similarly to how it has been behaving in Europe: a sharp increase in cases despite a successful vaccination campaign.

Omicron's “clinical behavior is a bit different,” Salinas pointed out. “It has a shorter incubation and contagion period,” with clinical manifestations less noticeable than those from previous variants “in all cases where there is a third dose,” he highlighted.

Salinas insisted that the ”most important measure” Uruguayans could take was the application of a third dose four months after receiving completing the full treatment. The minister also admitted a fourth dose was being discussed for the second quarter of 2022.

Meanwhile, Uruguay has received the first batch of 50,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 5 and 11 years old. Another 200,000 are due in January and the total purchase of 400,000 shots is to have been delivered by February, Presidential Secretary Álvaro Delgado explained.

Uruguayan authorities plan to start the school year -scheduled for March 7- with all children having been vaccinated, Delgado said in a press conference.

Uruguay's vaccination campaignb is oine of the strongest worldwide, having reached 93% of its population over 12 years of age.