[News] Uruguay lives last days of restrictions due to COVID-19 awaiting vaccines

[#Steeven.™]

Uruguay is experiencing the last days of some restrictions established by the Government, such as the closing of borders or the prohibition of public shows, while waiting for an announcement from the president, Luis Lacalle Pou, about the purchase of vaccines amid the progressive increase in cases of the COVD-19.

Since the health emergency was declared on March 13 due to the detection of the first positives of COVID-19, Uruguay has registered 20,823 total cases, of which 5,494 are active (73 in intensive care), and 204 deaths.

Although these are not very high figures - considering that the Uruguayan po[CENSORED]tion is about 3.3 million inhabitants and, above all, taking into account the figures registered in neighboring countries - the increase has been alarming in recent weeks.

Days ago the epidemiologist and researcher Julio Medina recorded on Twitter that it took the country "277 days to reach 10,000 cases of # SARSCoV2 and only 19 days to add the other 10,000", which raises concern in days in which the po[CENSORED]tion has enjoyed of the Christmas celebrations and experience his first summer baths.

Precisely during the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve celebrations, the level of daily infections has maintained a positivity of 10 to 13%, although the number of tests was drastically reduced, even by half in many days, which was not explained by the authorities and was only justified in some cases by breaks in the laboratories.

In his last public appearance, on December 16, Lacalle Pou announced the closing of borders (including to Uruguayans or residents), the suspension of public shows and the limitation of hours (midnight) in bars and restaurants until January 10 as a way to stop the increase in cases. In addition, since December 21, the law, approved by Parliament, which regulates article 38 of the Constitution to limit meetings that generate health risks, began to govern.

This restriction, unlike the previous ones, is maintained for two months and could even be extended for 30 more days. For this Tuesday, January 5, the appearance of the Minister of Public Health, Daniel Salinas, is scheduled in the Senate to provide information on the health situation in Uruguay. A press conference by Lacalle Pou to report on the purchase of vaccines is also expected in the next few hours, although Presidency sources assured Efe that "today is not planned" and that it is not yet closed that it could be this Tuesday because " everything is very dynamic. "

 

Process to acquire vaccines
In a live broadcast on Instagram on the 30th, the president said that Uruguay wants to be "very serious" in the choice of the vaccine, so he is in the evaluation process that allows him to access these. "If there has been no information about it so far, it is because we want to be very serious.

What is the evaluation we are doing? The effectiveness and efficacy of the vaccine, their availability and the time it may take to have it, "he said. Uruguay remains uncertain about which vaccine will be used to combat the pandemic, at a time when several nations already from the region have made their decision public and have even begun to vaccinate.

On December 23, the weekly Busca reported that the coordinator of International Relations and Cooperation of the MSP, Franco Alaggia, had been fired by Lacalle Pou after he rejected, without consulting, the Pfizer vaccine.

According to the publication, the coordinator sent an email "unilaterally and inconclusively" to the laboratory to inform that the South American country was not interested in its vaccine. Although it is not yet known which option will be chosen by Uruguay, the local press estimates that the preferred option of the authorities would be Pfizer and maintains that they are studying the best options for the refrigeration that is needed.

On the other hand, Uruguay has already signed an agreement between several countries in conjunction with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for a purchase pool in order to access some 750,000 doses of the vaccine to immunize 20% of its po[CENSORED]tion. With the 19 departments (provinces) of the country affected, although Montevideo and Canelones (south) are the most worrying by number of cases (3,357 and 761, respectively), and Rivera (north) in relation to their po[CENSORED]tion (almost 27% ), Uruguay is measured at its worst summer in tourist figures.

The Uruguayan capital has little-traveled streets and beaches with low occupancy, since many people from Montevideo have escaped to Maldonado and Rocha, the star destinations in eastern Uruguay, although this year they are also affected by the pandemic.