Despite the ongoing economic crisis, a sharp increase in sales of facemasks (15%) and alcohol gel (10%) was reported amid a surge in Covid-19 detections, the Argentine Union of Pharmacists and Biochemists (SAFyB) said. In this scenario, federal health authorities have again recommended people update their vaccination scheme against the malady.
Bolivian health authorities will be requiring school pupils to wear facemasks upon returning to classes next week as part of a set of preventive measures taken given an increase in the number of cases of Covid-19, Ministers María Renée Castro (Health) and Édgar Pary (Education) announced in La Paz.
Uruguay's Society of Pediatrics Wednesday issued a statement in Montevideo advising against vaccinating children against COVID-19 and insisting on the convenience of other non-pharmacological measures to prevent the spread of the malady.
Brazilian authorities Monday confirmed the detection of four cases of the JN 2.5 subvariant of the SARS-Cov-2 virus in the state of Mato Grosso. The patients were reported to be all female and hospitalized in a serious condition. One of them even died. However, the Mato Grosso State Health Department said there was no reason to panic because at this point “it is not possible to say that the cause of death was COVID-19” since ”the patient already had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).”
Argentina's Health Ministry issued Sunday a recommendation to patients people over 50 years of age and those at risk to get a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine given the increase in cases reported during the last few weeks. The drug is essential to maintain adequate protection to prevent complications, hospitalizations, and deaths due to this disease, the Ministry said in a statement.
Brazilian authorities have determined that former President Jair Bolsonaro produced false certificates attesting to his vaccination against Covid-19 to enter the United States, it was reported this week.
Argentina's sanitary system is noticing an increase in the number of patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) with Covid-19 during the first weeks of January, it was reported Thursday in Buenos Aires. ICU specialist Arnaldo Dubin spoke to local media about mainly elderly patients, with many comorbidities and an out-of-date vaccination schedule.
One day after Uruguay's Health Ministry announced a new Covid-19 vaccination campaign, a business guild bringing together homes for the elderly announced no booster doses would be encouraged on their part.
Uruguayan authorities have launched a vaccination campaign against Covid-19 as the malady is spreading nationwide with a “moderate intensity,” it was reported in Montevideo. The Health Ministry said 330,000 booster vaccines have become available.
Paraguay's Director General of Health Surveillance, Águeda Cabello, this week echoed a recommendation by the country's leading physicians to wear face masks in healthcare facilities as the number of Covid-19 cases is reported to be on the rise.