Covid-19 cases stopped declining in some jurisdictions. The middle of April has arrived and the cold days begin. The fourth dose of the vaccine is already underway for some groups. In this context, the Buenos Aires Minister of Health, Nicolás Kreplak, warned what will happen in the winter with the pandemic, how the province is preparing and what measures will be taken.
“The province of Buenos Aires is in good condition to face a cold season because we have vaccines, a good percentage of the vaccinated population,” assured the head of the provincial health portfolio in dialogue with CNN radio.
This week the Federal Health Council approved a new vaccine booster against Covid-19, prioritizing health personnel, people 50 years of age or older, people over 12 years of age with risk conditions, security forces and teachers.
Kreplak said in this sense that “the Ómicron variant changes a lot with respect to the other variants and the efficiency that was achieved before with two doses, in this variant it is achieved with three doses; then the effort is achieved much better with an extra dose”.
This new dose “possibly later spread to the rest of the population”, as was done with previous applications.
Could there be a new Covid outbreak?
Asked about a possible new outbreak of coronavirus, he stated that while “we are in a pandemic, the risk, the aggression of the virus and its mutations is greater” and pointed out that “if it becomes a seasonal virus, perhaps I have much less capacity for mutation”.
Thus, he pointed out that “in the world there are some variants of Ómicron that are generating outbreaks” and that from the province they are “observing what happens in the City of Buenos Aires” since there, he said, the “authorities are looking at what they have allowed to descend (the cases) and that they are worried about a possible promotion.”
What measures will be taken if Covid cases rise?
“It is not resolved that we are not going to have new waves,” said Kreplak and indicated that it will be seen in due course “what types of care measures can be taken, without being life-threatening.”
Asked about the use of chinstraps, he considered that it is “a lesser evil, taking into account what we had to suffer: staying at home, founding companies, businesses, not seeing sick relatives.”
“So terrible things have happened that perhaps if at some point the use of the mask is requested again to reduce contagion, it will be necessary for society to accompany it, which is not something capricious,” said Kreplak.
And, he added: “We are watching because new variants may appear; we have to be vigilant because what we cannot say in a pandemic is ‘this is over’ and that we know what is going to come.”