COVID-19 vaccination: children from 12 to 17 years old will be able to receive the third dose from Saturday, March 26

The head of immunizations of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), María Elena Martínez, reported that starting tomorrow, Saturday, March 26, vaccination of the third dose against COVID-19 will begin for adolescents aged 12 to 17 years in all centers of inoculation of Peru. This is one of the new measures in the sector to speed up vaccination in the country.

“Starting tomorrow, the third dose against COVID-19 will be applied to children aged 12 to 17 years after 5 months of receiving the second dose. This means that the boys who were vaccinated in October are already eligible to receive this 3 dose,” he said in an interview with the Andean Agency.

Martínez also pointed out that this measure is part of the actions that Minsa is taking to intensify the entire vaccination process at the national level, following the allegations of a slowdown in it. He stressed that vaccination “is the only thing that can save us if there is a next wave.”

This booster dose is being applied to the entire population over 18 years of age since Friday, November 26, 2021, now minors are added to the register. In addition, although this dose was initially started with the indication that it should be given 5 months after the second dose was administered, Minsa then reduced this waiting time to 3 months.

However, for boys and girls aged 12 to 17, the sector has chosen to wait a period of 5 months after receiving the second vaccine.

On the other hand, in the coming days the Government is expected to issue the supreme decree requiring people over 18 years of age to prove that they possess all three doses of the coronavirus vaccine to enter public and private establishments. This measure was announced by the president of the Council of Ministers, Aníbal Torres, and the Minister of Health, Hernán Condori, during a press conference held on March 23, following the meeting of the Council of Ministers.

OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE: MORE THAN 20 MILLION PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE THE THIRD DOSE

The slowdown in vaccination against COVID-19 in Peru is alarming the population, so the The Ombudsman's Office warned that there are more than 20 million people who do not have the three doses of the vaccine.

The scopes were announced by the ombudsman, Walter Gutiérrez Camacho, at a press conference on March 23.

The Deputy for State Administration, Alicia Abanto, said that many months have passed since the administration of the vaccines, and that the goal would be to have the entire population on their three booster doses - at least for those over 18 years old. Thus, he noted the worrying figures in which vaccination is currently found in Peru:

- 4.2 million people do not have a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

- 7.1 million people do not have the second dose of the vaccine.

- 13.1 million people have not received a third dose of the vaccine.

Thus, there is a cumulative figure of 24.4 million people without their third dose, either because they have not received the second or none of them.

ADOLESCENT FIGURES

Concerning the vaccination of minors, worrying results were also found, according to Deputy Abanto:

- 1 million adolescents have not received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

- 1.8 million boys and girls have not received any dose of the vaccine.