Government announced the end of special points for vaccination against covid-19

It has been two years since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic was announced in the country. Since then, the National Government, headed by President Iván Duque, and with the support of the health authorities, has taken steps to address the emergency. Colombia has now entered a process of transition with regard to care for the disease, due to the considerable reduction in cases of contagion and deaths from it. Therefore, it was announced that vaccination against covid-19 will be integrated into the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI).

“It does not mean that vaccination against covid-19 will be stopped, but that integration with the regular program will be made and its resources, such as vaccination points and staff will be used (...) In this sense, this decision provides confidence in our human talent in health, but it also poses a major challenge for territorial entities in not letting down their guard with covid-19,” explained Germán Escobar Morales, Deputy Minister of Public Health and Service Provision. The EPI is the Expanded Program on Immunization, with which thousands of Colombians regularly access their vaccines year after year.

Initially, in order to make vaccination against this disease part of the EPI, the expert explained, it is necessary to make “tonnages in each territory of the vaccines they have, and then carry out a review of doses delivered and applied, including transfers between departments and municipalities”.

It will be next April 22, then, when the process begins, firmly, for the National Vaccination Plan against covid-19 to be integrated into the EPI. This change will allow coronavirus vaccination to use the same resources that EPI uses, such as vaccination points and specialized health personnel. “The EPI in Colombia is a consolidated program that allowed us to lay the foundations for the construction of the National Vaccination Plan and historically, it has been recognized and awarded as one of the best in the Americas,” said the official.

The government projects that it will go beyond the 1,700 points established for covid-19 vaccination nationwide that now exist to have more than 4,000. The regular vaccination program has 21 biologics. “Evidence and a review process are required to take that step. The announced decision corresponds to an effort as a country to take a next step that also involves taking stock of what these 13 months of mass vaccination were like”, added the country's health authority.

According to what was detailed, among other things, the actions of the health authorities will be putting their efforts into making the review and adjustments to upload the records to PAIWEB of Colombians who access the biological. “We must not forget the payment aspect either, here it is important to have clarity in the accounts of the IPS, as well as previous drafts and the billing process,” said the Deputy Minister of Health.

These processes, which, as already mentioned, will begin on April 22, will be recorded in a national schedule. According to the second in command of that government portfolio, they will be held in working groups with the supervisory authorities and the National Superintendency of Health, “to close a process that involved everyone's efforts and that has achieved great results that allowed a revival as a country and protect the lives of Colombians.”

In court last weekend, according to official figures, there was a reduction in cases on Saturday (159) compared to Friday (205). These figures are given after the processing of 6,019 tests, 3,433 were PCR and 2,586 were antigen.

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