A Ecuador, the seventh Latin American country with the most deaths from pandemic and with 17.7 million inhabitants, it remains to vaccinate a million people to achieve herd immunity against the Covid-19President Guillermo Lasso reported Tuesday.
“We lack approximately 6% of the vaccinable population (of 16.1 million people) to be able to reach the goal of 85%” and achieve herd immunity by mid-February, the president said in an interview broadcast on social networks.
He added that “that is about 950,000 Ecuadorians who need to be vaccinated with the second dose.”
Ecuador, which in the worst of the pandemic in 2020 suffered the collapse of its health and funeral systems in the port of Guayaquil (southwest) with deaths even in the streets, has completed the vaccination scheme for 79% of the population over five years considered vaccinable, and since February it plans to start immunizing three and four-year-olds.
A campaign is also under way to apply a first reinforcement to those over 50 years of age, already provided to about 1.1 million people. In addition, it expects to cover 85% of the vaccinable population in March.
With 33,686 deaths, Ecuador – which was one of the first sources of the pandemic in the region – continues as the seventh Latin American nation with the most deaths from Covid-19, according to an AFP count based on official data.
In addition, it has registered 553,201 cases (3,125 per 100,000 people) since it declared the presence of the virus in its territory, in February 2020.
On Monday, the authorities reduced the capacity of public institutions to 50% due to an increase in infections, and from this Tuesday partial teleworking in the Executive offices was resumed until January 23.
Lasso on Tuesday ruled out declaring a 2020 lockdown.
“All the measures that had to be taken have already been taken, and there is one that I clearly want to discard: confinement. Why, because that would affect the economy, affect the normal life of citizens,” said the president.