© Leandro Teysseire
As of this Wednesday, all those over 12 years of age who live in the province of Buenos Aires will be able to apply the third dose “freely” without the need to have a previous turn.
The announcement was made by Governor Axel Kicillof during the Tenth Summer Conference in the seaside resort of Santa Clara del Mar, Mar Chiquita district.
“We had free vaccine for the first dose from 3 years old, free vaccine met the deadline for the second dose from 3 years old and we had the third dose free from 18 years old, but from tomorrow (for today), and I am proud to say it, from the age of 12 there will be a third free dose in the province of Buenos Aires”announced the president in statements to the press.
Accompanied by the Buenos Aires Minister of Health, Nicolás Kreplak; his pair of Production, Science and Technological Innovation, Augusto Costa, and the Minister of Government, Cristina Álvarez Rodríguez, Kicillof affirmed that “The province was a locomotive, it broke a record in vaccination.”
He argued that “we do not have to vaccinate a city, we have to vaccinate 3,000 cities and we do not have to vaccinate 200 square kilometers, but 307 thousand square kilometers, and we do not have to vaccinate a million or three million people, but we have to vaccinate 17 million inhabitants and we have vaccinated 16 million with one dose, 14 million with two doses and 7 million with three doses.”
In this sense, the governor highlighted the fundamental role of the vaccination campaign after two years of the pandemic. Regarding the reactivation of tourism, he said that it was “necessary from the point of view of the activity, from the municipalities that live largely from tourism; necessary for the Argentine men and women who enjoyed our territory. It was a historic season.”
Infection curve and vaccination
Minister Kreplak, referring to the epidemiological situation, said that the cases fell by almost 90 percent. “Today we have 3,500 cases throughout the country and 1,130 cases in the province of Buenos Aires, which represents a drop of 86 percent, which was with respect to the same day last week, since we had had 7,900 cases”.
According to data provided by the minister, 93.6 percent of the population of Buenos Aires is vaccinated. 83.4 percent, more than 14 million people, have the complete scheme with two doses, and almost 40 percent of the people of Buenos Aires have the third booster dose.
Between the adolescents ages 12 and 17, 93 percent have at least one dose and 78 the complete scheme. And of the children from 5 to 12 in the province, 77 applied a dose and 56 have already completed the scheme.
“If we think that with 17 million inhabitants the province of Buenos Aires could easily be a country, the province would be the fourth country with vaccinated people,” emphasized the health minister.