In the country, the measure begins with the intra- and interprovincial and tourist service, as ordered by the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE).
From this Wednesday the 12th, the certificate or vaccination card against COVID-19 will be controlled among the users of public transportation, with a complete scheme. At the national level, the measure begins with intra- and inter-provincial and tourist transport, according to the disposition of the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE).
The measure, which promotes immunization, aims to counteract the infections of the virus that have a sustained increase, and the outlook for this and next week is that the transmissibility is maintained due to the breaches of biosafety that occurred on the December holidays.
How will the control be done?
According to the guidelines of the National Transit Agency (ANT), the interprovincial, intraprovincial and tourist transport operators at the national level will ask users for the card with the identity card before the sale of tickets.
In the passenger list made by the operators, the data must match between the ticket and the card.
The requirement will be made to the population from the age of 12. And users between 5 and 11 years 11 months will be asked for the document as of Monday, January 17 of the current year.
In the latter case, admission may be authorized to those who have the first or second dose, as appropriate.
The transport units will not allow the boarding of passengers when the data on the ticket do not match the identity card, or the vaccination certificate. Hence, no passenger will be able to travel if they do not carry their identity card and if they have not been vaccinated, according to the provisions of the COE.
There are exceptions?
Juan Zapata, president of the national COE, maintained that there is always an exception in the norm and if someone has a pre-existing disease for which they cannot be vaccinated (if there is a case), they must present a medical certificate that supports it.
School and institutional transporters ask that they be allowed to require the vaccination card against COVID-19 to their users
Previous information
In some provinces of the country, information sessions were held since Monday afternoon on the measure that is in force since Wednesday 12. This covered transport operators and users.
In Tungurahua, Juan Darquea, administrator of the network of terrestrial terminals of the municipality of Ambato, indicated that for the fulfillment of the disposition the first filter will be the personnel of the stations. “We have always been respectful of the protocols and we are going to enforce it,” said the official.
In Loja, in the terminal of that city, the majority of users who came yesterday to buy their tickets to travel today already presented their card.
The same happened at the Tulcán terminal, which these days receives a flow of travelers of between 1,500 and 1,700.
Fernando Villarroel, administrator of the Border Mobility Center, explained that they had an awareness campaign. And it is that yesterday 75% of passengers did not have the document.
Control in the Metrovía
Guayaquil is one of the first cities to apply the provision at the urban transport level due to the high rate of contagion of the virus. As of this Wednesday the 12th, whoever does not have the vaccination card against COVID-19, either physical or the virtual certificate, will not be able to board the units of the Metrovía transportation system.
There will be no fines or penalties, but users will not be able to access the buses.
The Metrovía system has 107 stops and 4 terminals, where control will be exercised randomly, especially during the so-called peak hours and those with the highest demand. (I)
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