Dominican Republic to reach immunity from COVID-19 in 2021
The Minister of Public Health and Social Assistance, Daniel de Jesús Rivera, reported that some 800 thousand doses of vaccines against COVID-19 have been administered in the Vacúnate RD program, for which he affirmed that the country is on the path of return to normal and immunity in 2021.
“Our faith cannot be inferior to the faith that others put in our effort. The Dominican people can feel proud and confident of having a vaccination program of worldwide recognition”, said De Jesús Rivera.
These statements were offered by the Minister of Health in the Open Doors space produced by the Director of Communication and official spokesperson for the Presidency, Milagros Germán, at the National Palace.
Regarding the batch of vaccines that the country received on March 17th, the Minister of Health reported that almost all of them will be dedicated to inoculation with the second doses of all citizens who were vaccinated in the previous phase of the process.
In the same way, part of this batch will be destined to inoculate with the first doses the health personnel that remains to be vaccinated and the education personnel scheduled by the Ministry of Education.
Immunity against Covid-19 this year
“Yesterday we could read that the Dominican Republic is part of the reduced list of countries in the American continent that will be able to immunize its entire population in this year 2021. According to the influential newspaper The New York Times, occupying the third place, after Chile and the United States and followed by Uruguay”, indicated the Minister of Health.
He appreciated the fact that the World Health Organization recently disclosed that around 150 countries have already started the vaccination process, including the Dominican Republic.
“This reality represents a logistical challenge for the world, because the production and distribution of doses are much lower than the level of the needs of countries urged to return to normality”, observed the official.
Second dose only for 900 people
“So that confusion or doubts do not arise, it is good to remember that the first batch of vaccines was applied progressively. For the 24th of March, the second dose is only for about nine hundred people; and thus we will continue guaranteeing the second dose to the people who are due, according to their vaccination card”, the minister emphasized.
“This means that we will not see a large influx of people at the vaccination centers. The number of people to be inoculated will grow with the days ”, explained the official.
He argued that, if the vaccination card states that the second dose corresponds to him during Holy Week, the vaccination centers will continue to operate every day.
He reminded there is no need to make an appointment to receive the second dose. “Citizens should preferably go to the same center where they received the first dose”, he recommended.
Exemplary vaccination
He stated that there is no doubt that the country will continue to show the world its ability to continue with an exemplary vaccination program.
However, the Minister of Public Health warned that the security provided by this process should not lead us to lower our guard, and ruled that “we have to continue practicing all the necessary measures to protect ourselves and others from the contagion of the Covid- 19″.
He considered that this Easter, the population should maintain their distance, use a mask and wash their hands frequently since he understands that only in this way can the flattening of the contagion curve that has been achieved in recent weeks be maintained.