Congress: Parliamentarians asked to cancel the mandatory use of masks in open spaces

Peru has approved a measure to ensure that all persons over 18 years of age must prove that they have all three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to enter the enclosed spaces. But before the measure was announced, a group of parliamentarians sent an ex officio letter to the president of the Council of Ministers, Aníbal Torres, to cancel the mandatory use of the mask in open spaces. In addition, they ask that the vaccination card no longer needs to be presented to enter institutions or commercial establishments.

The letter was issued on March 15 and would have been the initiative of Avanza País parliamentarian Alejandro Cavero. In addition, he also has the signatures of his colleagues Patricia Chirinos, Adriana Tudela, Norma Narrow, Alejandro Muñante, among others.

“The population has received with great enthusiasm the lifting of a series of restrictions, the resumption of face-to-face school classes and the measures that allow economic activities to be carried out without prohibitions. However, we consider that some measures remain unrelated to the current situation”, the letter reads.

In it, congressmen argue that this uprising would have a positive impact on the country's economic recovery and “the progressive return to a healthy and productive daily life.”

The message was indeed forwarded to the PCM.

THREE MANDATORY DOSES FOR PEOPLE OVER 18 YEARS OLD

During the press conference of the Council of Ministers, on March 24, 2022, this new measure was approved, which makes it mandatory to present the vaccination card with the three doses of the vaccine to people over 18 years of age to enter closed spaces.

“The mandatory third dose of vaccination against covid-19 has been approved, so that all people over the age of 18 can enter public and private spaces, and thus prevent them from putting the health of others at risk,” said the chief of staff, Aníbal Torres, to the press.

“They can't let people who don't have all three vaccines in,” the premier warned after announcing that the government is studying the possibility of applying “a fourth booster dose.”

Torres said that this requirement includes workers in the public sector and warned them that whoever “does not have the three doses could lose their job.”

However, despite this announcement, the premier said that the COVID-19 vaccine in Peru is not mandatory: “As we have said, the vaccine is not mandatory, but the one who makes the decision not to be vaccinated has no right to harm others, ” he said.

THIRD WAVE OF COVID-19 IN PERU

On the other hand, it is recalled that the then head of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), Hernando Cevallos, acknowledged on January 4 that Peru was facing a third wave of the disease. This is after a steady increase in cases since mid-December 2021. Cases and deaths from it have been substantially reduced since then, but there is still talk of the possibility of facing a fourth wave.

Thus, the authorities consider that the vaccination against COVID-19, which began on February 9, 2021, has allowed many infected people to have mild symptoms by contracting the omicron variant. So far, more than 80 per cent of the population over 12 years of age are vaccinated with two doses, which represents about 25.6 million people. On the other hand, 42.8% of the target population has a third booster dose, according to official figures from Minsa.

However, Peru also has one of the highest mortality rates in the world. Since March 2020, the country has accumulated more than 3.5 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 211 thousand deaths.