In the first days of the booster vaccination campaign for children up to 12 years of age, great acceptance by the public has been observed —in the entire province of Loja—.
In Zone 7, made up of the provinces of Loja (107,585), Zamora Chinchipe (31,863) and El Oro (151,583), the goal of vaccinating nearly 300,000 children between the ages of one and twelve, who must receive the booster dose, regardless of the regular schedule for newborns.
disease sequelae
The national delegate of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP), Jacinto Esteban Bonilla Escobar, told Diario Crónica that the vaccination campaign is aimed at avoiding outbreaks of measles, rubella and poliomyelitis; controlled diseases, but that it is necessary to prevent, since, in case of contagion, patients suffer permanent effects on their health. “These are diseases that the new generations are unaware of, but they are very serious, they cause infantile paralysis and their sequelae are for life,” the official said, while commenting that, depending on the disease, they cause blindness, deafness, deformities and even the death of children. “It is important that people know that these diseases are all around us; In Peru there was a case of paralysis due to polio, and it is a disease that we see as historical, but in reality it is very close”.
Number of children vaccinated
The vaccination strategy began with a visit to educational centers in all urban and rural sectors, whose medical teams are made up of a doctor, a nurse and a person in charge of registering the vaccine, and according to the first reports of the first three days , in the province of Loja, about 22,000 children have been cared for. The second level of intervention would be in the health centers and finally through a sweep with mobile brigades.
The official in charge of monitoring the process commented that the complete scheme of children in traditional vaccines is not required, but rather the predisposition to access booster medication, it is imperative to achieve collective immunity. “Of the children who were born after 2012, some do not have the full doses, which is why we need to protect them right now,” he explained, while announcing that vaccination campaigns for these diseases are carried out every year and routinely, while booster vaccines would depend on the political will of governments to invest in their acquisition. “These three diseases are in the process of being eliminated and that is why we have to vaccinate massively to prevent them from returning to the population.”
Everyone can get vaccinated
He commented on the health conditions that children must be in to receive the booster dose, making it necessary to take into account treatments for congenital diseases. “Most are being vaccinated without problem and, if possible, parents should have the regular vaccination card to know the history”, since the vaccinating staff is able to make a professional assessment to place the biological without any kind of risk. “Vaccines are safe, effective and much depends on the license and investigation that is done to place the dose and avoid any contraindication in children.”
The central plant official announced that the vaccines have been delivered and distributed in all health centers, and units where the campaign is being carried out, the same ones that would not exclusively be booster doses, but also the entire scheme. “Every day we are checking the vaccines to avoid shortages,” he concluded. (YO)