MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguayans skipping booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine

Additional doses are key to avoiding epidemiological surprises such as the possibility of new coronavirus variants reaching the country

Paraguayan health authorities have expressed their concern over a slowdown in vaccination against COVID-19, with very few booster doses applied.

According to official data released Saturday, 47% of the population still lacked the first doses since the start of the campaign in March 2021, while 53% were yet to take the third injection, although they have been available since October last year.

“We have a record of 1,766,882 people who have completed the six-month period since the second dose of the basic scheme and have not been vaccinated again against COVID-19,” said Héctor Castro, head of the Expanded Program of Immunization, who also pointed out that most people in that condition were aged below 40.

“It is important to maintain coverage with booster doses in order to avoid epidemiological situations that may surprise the country, such as the possibility of the entry of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” he added.

He also pointed out that low vaccination coverage also prevailed among people aged 5 to 19, while those aged 60 years and over have already met the global goal of 70% with second doses.

So far, 9,332,654 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from various manufacturers have been applied, while 3,980,238 children people aged 5 years and older had received at least a first dose (59% of the target population), of whom 3,507,575 had completed their basic scheme (51.9% of the target population).

Meanwhile, 1,576,712 people aged 12 years and above have already taken their first booster doses (23.3% of the target population), and only 268,129 aged 18 and older have received their fourth injection (3.9% of the target population).

The government's vaccination campaign for children against pneumococcus starts Monday in Asuncion and the Central Department. The pathogen causes pneumonia and meningitis.

Paraguay has 200,000 pediatric vaccines against pneumococcus (PCV13), it was announced. ”The thirteenvalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) protects against a bacterium called pneumococcus, which causes serious invasive infections, such as pneumonia and meningitis,” Paraguay's Health Ministry explained in a statement.