In an interview for a digital medium, Ximena Abarca, Secretary of Health of the Metropolitan District of Quito (DMQ), spoke about the epidemiological situation in the city. In the same way, she referred to the Delta variant and the infections in the different age groups and the benefits of vaccination.
She includes explained that the behavior of the virus is unforeseen, because currently, the extremes of the age groups begin to be infected. The official mentioned that people from 5 to 19 years old tend to get infected because they have not received the vaccine; However, for the group older than 65 years, infections possibly occur due to the transmission capacity of the Delta variant.
“From 5 to 19 years we have an increase in people infected, in the same way over 65 years. I can explain to myself why there is an increase in those under 19 years of age, because the vaccine has not been present in this age group. However, in the group of 65 I cannot find a clear explanation, we must investigate a little more what it should be.
On the other hand, the Secretary of Health mentioned that there are eight people infected with the Delta variant; but one of them has not traveled, which implies that the variant is circulating in a community way. In addition, the data of the contagion speed of 0.5, is erroneous due to the limited capacity to carry out tests.
Abarca commented that to obtain reliable data, some 6,000 tests per week should be carried out. A small number of tests are being carried out at the DMQ, 500 a day, when they should carry out about 1,500 tests a day.
In the case of vaccination, the official said that with the two doses, people are immunized; However, she clarified that we have to immunize people with the two doses so that new variants do not appear, until mid-September.
In the MDQ 2.2 million are already inoculated with the first dose, according to the Health authority.
Ximena Abarca revealed that vaccines do not prevent contagion, what they do prevent is that we do not have a serious condition or die. Also, the effects of the second dose are more severe because the body is already sensitized. She also stated that AstraZeneca and Pfizer doses are more effective than Sinovac. The official noted:
All vaccines, finally, are to prevent severe symptoms and even death have the same level of effectiveness. What I mentioned is that there are vaccines that report greater efficacy in preventing symptoms of a possible contagion over time.
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