“This is a monovalent vaccine that serves as a booster or as an adjunct to the initiation of therapies,” the sector director in this key area, Augusto Contreras, told the press.
These doses are a follow-up to the National Plan for people over 12 years old, the official explained.
The population can get vaccinated during business hours between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time, the doctor said.
He mentioned the Amparo neighborhood in Zone 7 as centers that provide 24-hour care from Monday to Sunday; and El Paraíso, Zone 18, as well as in the Permanent Care Center (CAP) in Canalitos, Zone 2 of that city.
The head of Health and Human Services, Francisco Coma, explained at the end of December that it was a biologic from the American pharmaceutical company Moderna that covers “practically all strains and in a single dose.”
The amount purchased was determined based on the numbers of people coming to the facilities to receive injections in recent months, he described.
The minister added that according to the trend of those seeking the immunogen, they will cover the first quarter of 2024.
The acquisition of additional funds for 2024 is already in the ministry's revolving fund, so they will be received from March or April, Coma explained.
The health authorities ask the population to adhere to protective measures such as hygiene – washing hands – and using a mask in public spaces.
The ministry also published in this country last December the records of the first case of the JN.1 variant of SARC-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 and known as “Pirola”.
Contreras himself reported three days ago on the return of swab points to diagnose cases of the disease in strategic locations.
The number of infected rose from 300 last November to 777 on the seventh of this month, although no municipality appears in red (maximum) alert, according to industry data.
Since March 13, 2020, when the government announced the first positive patient here amid the global emergency, the number of infections stands at one million 281,000 585 cases.
On the other hand, 20,272 Guatemalans died from the disease, representing a mortality rate of 120.2 per 100,000 population and a fatality rate of 1.6 percent.
Guatemala barely exceeds 52 percent of the population vaccinated against Covid-19 with one dose, 41.5 with two (7.1 million inhabitants out of a total of 17.11 million).
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