These people should be vaccinated

Public Health Commission is finalizing the unification document measures to prevent and combat respiratory infections throughout the territory and thus avoid situations like last year, when the Ministry of Health “had to intervene” by imposing masks when the incidence had already increased sharply.

This was stated by the Minister of Health Monica García at a press conference where she presented campaign to encourage the target population to get vaccinated against covid and influenza as the best way to prevent these diseases.

He documentwhich will be presented at next Friday at the Interterritorial Council of the National Health Systemwill establish general criteria throughout the country to assess the risk of respiratory infections and propose uniform prevention and control measures in all communities.

In this way, a series of indicators will be collected that will characterize the epidemiological situation in order to assess its contagion, severity and impact; Based on them, risk scenarios will be developed, to which a number of recommendations will be attached to reduce the destructive impact of infections.

In a plenary session with communities, the ministry will ask them to “join forces” and “share the progress” each other has made, Garcia said.

The Minister wanted to insist that winter plans should be “prepared not in winter”, but earlier; In this sense, he recalled that last year the Ministry of Health “had to intervene when the curve had already grown exponentially.” “We must anticipate how to respond to this need,” he stressed.

Population groups subject to vaccination

And vaccination will play an important role in this; The goal that the ministry has set is to reach or exceed vaccination coverage against influenza and covid at 75% for the elderly and medical personnel and 60% for pregnant women and people at risk of the disease..

They are called over 60 years of age and persons living in residential buildings with risk conditions from 12 years of age and children over 5 years of age in disability centers; pregnant women in any trimester of pregnancy and women in the postpartum period.

Vaccination is also recommended personnel of public and private medical and social-medical centers and institutions, as well as workers of essential services.

In case fluthis Recommended for smokers, children 5 to 59 months, employees of day care centers and early childhood education centers, people with celiac disease, or people who have direct contact with animals or their excretions on poultry, pig or mink farms or farms, or with wildlife. (birds, wild boars or mustelids) and others.

Achieving the proposed coverage “will allow us to not only protect our most vulnerable, but also reduce the burden on our hospitals; let’s see if we can stop seeing these images of collapse that we are used to in the winter.” – the minister emphasized, before emphasizing that “vaccination is the best way to prevent serious complications and move forward in life.”

Evidence of this comes from the first immunization campaign with nirsevimab, a monoclonal antibody that mitigates the devastating effects of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes bronchiolitis.

During the 2023/2024 campaign. 277,000 doses were administered, achieving immunization coverage of 92% of newborns and 88% of children born before the start of the season, with “absolutely impressive” results: hospitalizations fell by 71–77%, i.e. , between 7.500 and 10.200 fewer receipts.