All persons age 50 and older are eligible for a COVID-19 third vaccine starting November 19. The decision to authorize the “booster shot” was announced by the Ministry of Health as the country has been reporting daily cases of infection above 2,000 during the last two weeks.
The expansion of the vaccine campaign was accompanied with the extension of the National Health Emergency for an additional three months. The National Health Emergency, that began on March 21, 2020, with the first confirmed cases of coronavirus will continue to, at least, March 1. President Iván Duque stated during a Banking Convention that offering all persons age 50 and over an additional shot “will continue to guarantee the protection of life and accompanying the safe reactivation of the economy.”
The vaccine roll-out has surpassed 52 million doses, and by the end of November, health authorities expect 70% of the population to have received at least one dose. “We are in a final push, between now and the end of year, to achieve 70% of the population with a complete vaccination scheme,” emphasized Duque. According to the Ministry’s official data, 23 million residents have completed their double-dose vaccination scheme.
On Thursday, as Duque made the announcements during a Banking Convention, Colombia added 2,121 cases of coronavirus, including 473 confirmed in the department of Antioquia, 338 in Barranquilla and 267 in Bogotá. The total tally since the outbreak stands at 5,040,665. The country also registered 51 deaths, raising the death toll to 127,963.
