On the list are Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno, in Guayas, and San Miguel de Los Bancos, in Pichincha. The sharpest delay is found in Morona Santiago.
Marjorie Plúa is concerned that the pandemic will take more people from her community. She runs a small tourism agency in Mindo, northwest of Quito, and almost every day she travels approximately 30 minutes to San Miguel de los Bancos to volunteer to help vaccinate against COVID-19. “It is the affection for the community, so that we are all vaccinated, so that we do not have deaths,” he says.
San Miguel de los Bancos has 46% of its population with the complete vaccination scheme and is one of the 18 cantons in the country that have less than half of its inhabitants inoculated, according to an analysis carried out by EL UNIVERSO based on the official figures of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) with cut to last January 2.
Also on that list is a Guayas canton, Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno, with 42%.
The most critical cantons are Taisha (13%) and Tiwintza (23%), both in Morona Santiago. They are followed by Montecristi (33%), in Manabí; Guamote (33%), in Chimborazo; Putumayo (35%), in Sucumbíos; Logroño (36%), also in Morona Santiago; and Palenque (37%), in Los Ríos.
To calculate these percentages, the population projection for 2021 that the MSP carried out within the Vaccination Plan and the official data of applied doses published in the Vaccine Meter were used.
This newspaper requested an interview with the MSP authorities to discuss this issue, but until the closing of this report there was no response.
The least inoculated cantons
Morona Santiago is the province that lags behind in vaccination. An official from the Taisha District Health Coordination commented that the slow vaccination process is due to the geographic dispersion of the population in those cantons, mostly belonging to indigenous peoples and nationalities. Other difficulties, he added, are language and difficult access to populations.
Morona Santiago is the furthest behind in vaccination against COVID-19, with only 39% of its population inoculated
Delis Santos, in charge of vaccination in Taisha, said that, although the community is always ready to receive medical attention, it remains skeptical of vaccination. “Above all, we have problems with the Achuar community. Within the cantonal head, we have had cases in which women have wanted to be vaccinated, but the husband did not authorize ”, she affirmed.
For this reason, doctors organized and financed vaccination fairs in which presents were given to people who agreed to receive the doses, taking advantage of the Christmas and New Year festivities.
The problem of under-vaccinated populations
The existence of communities with low inoculation against COVID-19 is not a problem only for their members, but for everyone, says infectologist Carola Cedillo. He explains that these populations can become more seriously ill and need more intensive care units (ICU) and hospitalizations, and since they do not have enough resources, they would have to be referred to hospitals in other locations.
In addition, there is the risk of the appearance of new variants. “The longer the virus has to circulate in unvaccinated people, there is the possibility that there are more variants,” says Cedillo.
She states that it is not clear what percentage of vaccination a population should achieve to achieve herd immunity. “There are fewer and fewer appreciations regarding how much would be an optimal number considering the possibility of transmission so great that exists with the variants and, above all, omicron”, he points out.
Cedillo recommends three strategies to reinforce the protection of the population through vaccination. The first is to expand the possibility of vaccination in age groups under 5 years, “because, when these more transmissible variants begin to circulate, the pediatric stage begins to have a greater number of hospitalizations.”
It also highlights that it would be important for people to receive the reinforcement in less time. “It is radically expected in the sixth month to apply the reinforcement, when in other countries it has been seen that this wait can be shortened, at least if vaccines are available, as is the case in Ecuador,” he details.
The last strategy that he proposes is “to reinforce education about vaccines in the provinces where coverage is lacking due to little or bad information.” He adds that, when there are adverse effects associated with vaccination that are not clarified, “the population generates rejection and lack of adherence, and if we do not arrive with the adequate information, we cannot reach this important and necessary vaccination in the largest number of the population. possible”.
Mobility affects stats
San Miguel de los Bancos is a two-hour drive from the center of Quito. And although the capital has already reached 83% of its inoculated population, that neighboring canton has a long lag in vaccination.
For the epidemiologist Alberto Narváez, from the Central University of Ecuador, a possible reason why San Miguel de los Bancos has a low percentage of vaccination is the mobility of its inhabitants to larger cities in search of vaccines.
“At the beginning (of the vaccination) many people from other provinces came to Quito, which was the place where they were being vaccinated, because the MSP decided to start vaccinating in the cantons with the highest transmission and the most deaths, and then it was sweeping to the smaller cantons ”, explained Narváez.
Contrary to these cantons with low vaccination percentages, according to MSP statistics, twelve have been found that exceed 100% of their vaccinated population. Among them are Aguarico (158%), in Orellana; Jaramijó (142%), in Manabí; and Samborondón (123%), in Guayas.
According to Narváez, the problem could be in the population projection used by the MSP, which is based on statistical calculations from the 2010 census.
Therefore, the specialist adds, more up-to-date studies are needed. He affirms: “The only way to know the reality is to carry out vaccination coverage monitoring studies, which are quick surveys of some households, and with that the probable number of those not vaccinated is estimated; and where they are not vaccinated, they intervene ”. (I)
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