The Ministry of Public Health urges people to get vaccinated now that a repeat of Omicron and Delta is sweeping the country.
The Ministry of Public Health says it has a batch of around three million doses of Pfizer vaccines that are about to expire on 31 July 2022. The Ministry of Public health calls on the population to complete their inoculation scheme against Covid-19, mainly young people under 20 years of age who are the ones today testing positive to Covid-19.
In the usual Wednesday, press conference, the Deputy Minister of Collective Health, Dr. Eladio Perez said the country has enough doses of Sinovac until 2023. He says these are sufficient to protect the population and mitigate the virus.
Three recent deaths were said to have been possibly avoided if the persons of more than 60 years who died had received the fourth booster shot.
“We have until 31 July to be able to use the Pfizer vaccines, since the next shipments are from this pharmaceutical company are pediatric vaccines,” he said.
He asked the public to get vaccinated, not only so that the vaccines are not lost, but also for the preventive health benefits of these.
He said that, from the epidemiological point of view, although there has been a slight increase in Covid-19 positive cases, it does not mean that a new wave of the disease has emerged. “Currently circulating in the country is a variant of Omicron, the BA 2 12.1, which is affecting mostly children under 20 years of age,” he explained. He said that the vaccination process has made a difference. When comparing the increases now, we see lowr values in the context of the increase in cases,” he said. The Ministry of Public health continues to monitor the situation and possible changes.
Dr. Natalia Garcia, advisor to the Ministry of Health, denied the country is undergoing a sixth wave of Covid-19. There is a reactivation of the Omicron variant and the BA2 12.1 strain, which proliferates more easily, but is less lethal than the previous variants, she explained.
“For a new wave to emerge there must be a new variant and so far the ones we have are the same Omicron variant that is predominating, while Delta continues to circulate in some provinces of the country,” she said.
The lung specialist urged the public to complete the vaccination schedule and urged those over 60 years of age with high-risk health problems to get the fourth dose to be able to better mitigate the disease.
Bulletin No.811 registered 570 new cases, 1 24-hour positivity at 16.12% and 4-week positivity at 7.53%. One death is reported. The number of active cases is 3,834, up from active cases in the 300s at the start of May 2022. The death rate is at 0.74%, one of the lowest in the Americas.
Some 17 municipalities have had no new cases in the last three weeks, with the National District, Greater Santo Domingo, Santiago and La Altagracia being the provinces that continue to register the highest numbers for cases.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
9 June 2022