MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay to start 4th round of covid-19 vaccination next week

Salinas insisted the pandemic was not over

Uruguay's Health Ministry (MSP) Friday announced the approval of a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine for all people between 18 and 49 years of age.

The new immunization campaign will start next Tuesday, May 17. Candidates must have taken their previous injection at least 120 days earlier, it was also explained.

“The official recommendation of the MSP is for people with comorbidities, but we open the agenda for all those who want to do it,” Health Undersecretary José Luis Satdjian told El País.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Daniel Salinas insisted that “those who have not yet received the third dose, should receive the third dose.”

Salinas also stressed the importance that people aged 70 and older are vaccinated together with those with comorbidities. ”There are 809,000 people aged 18 to 49 years who have three doses (Sinovac + Sinovac + Pfizer), not all of them with comorbidities, but that is the maximum number,“ Salinas pointed out.

The official also warned about the increase in the number of cases and underscored that ”the pandemic is not over“ despite the government's lifting of the sanitary emergency.

”Suddenly, there is a biased interpretation that the cessation of the (health) emergency is the end of the pandemic. It is not the end of the pandemic. We are seeing a rebound of cases in the Americas and in the world in general,“ he stressed.

Salinas also said that between Monday and Thursday of last week there were 1,172 new cases, while from Monday to Thursday of this week ”we have counted 2,616 cases.“

The latest weekly report showed infections had increased by 52% while severe cases decreased. Between May 2 and 8 there were a total of 2,830 infections, while the previous week that figure had been 1,867.

”We felt it was appropriate to highlight the increase in the number of cases, especially in the 18 to 49 age group in particular,“ Salinas said, as he insisted on the importance of non-pharmacological measures: ventilated spaces; the use of face masks, and proper social distancing.

The MSP believes the increase in the number of cases ”is due to the greater circulation of a variant with greater contagious capacity, which is BA.2.”