Until now, the application of two doses of the covid vaccine was considered a complete scheme.
Panama, which is experiencing a fourth pandemic wave driven by the omicron variant that is reflected in an avalanche of new daily cases, adopted as a complete vaccination scheme against covid-19 the administration of three doses of immunizer, the Government reported on Tuesday.
“After discussion with the PanavaC-19 Team, the vaccine experts and with the authorization of the President of the Republic, we have adopted as a complete vaccination scheme (against the covid) the application of three doses,” said the head of the Ministry of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre.
Until now, the application of two doses of the covid vaccine was considered a complete scheme.
The “booster dose added to the scheme” began to be administered last October to people over 55 years of age but has already been extended to people aged 16 years or older to be received three months after the second injection.
The complete vaccination scheme, registered in a QR code or on the vaccination card, is required in Panama as a requirement that consumers must present if, for example, a restaurant wants to work with the full capacity of its business.
In Panama, 6,342,319 doses of vaccines against covid-19 have been applied, the vast majority from the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the rest from the British AstraZeneca.
Of the total, 3,126,215 are first doses; 2,811,906 second; 396,416 booster and 7,782 third dose for immunosuppressed.
80.4% of the target population, people 12 years of age and older, have received two doses, and 90.5% one dose, according to official data.
With respect to the total population, 4.28 million inhabitants, about 35% of the population has yet to be vaccinated, Minister Sucre has said.
Minister Sucre also announced that next Friday the vaccination against the covid of minors between 5 and 11 years will begin, a process that will be developed in national and regional public hospitals, and also in three private health centers in the Panamanian capital .
There are 60,000 doses of Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine available – a first batch that arrived last Sunday – that will be applied as of next Friday, primarily to children between 5 and 11 years old with chronic diseases, immunosuppressed or disabled.
Panama has asked Pfizer for 1.5 million doses of the pediatric vaccine against covid-19, which differs from that received by adults, including that the antigen, which is the active substance, is 10 micrograms and not 30 micrograms.
The authorities reported 3,259 new cases of covid-19 this Tuesday, more than double than yesterday and a figure that had not been seen for months, and five deaths, which brought confirmed infections to 503,407 and 7,445 deaths in 21 months of the pandemic .
The number of hospitalized patients has risen notably in the case of those in the general ward (195), but not in the intensive care units (ICU), where there are 30 patients.
Another number that has multiplied is that of people isolated in their homes for testing positive for covid: there are 18,191, while 257 are in hotels.
In the last hours, 19.5921 tests were applied, which yielded a positivity of 16.7%.
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