El Salvador Starts Vaccinating Children Over Six Years Old

On Monday, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced that the COVID-19 vaccination process has begun for children over six years of age, following warnings from health authorities of an increase in the number of infections and deaths.

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"El Salvador has enabled vaccination against COVID-19 for children aged 6 to 11 years. Remember that the vaccine is voluntary, universal, and free," Bukele tweeted.

Vaccination of children will be done by appointment. Their legal guardians must sign a consent form and accompany the minors throughout the process. They will be able to get vaccinated in the 162 immunization points across the country, among the three self-service centers or in the new ‘El Salvador Hospital’, located in the capital.

This Central American nation reports an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations due to a rise in daily cases registered since June. However, Health Minister Francisco Alabi confirmed that El Salvador Hospital, where most COVID-19 patients are concentrated, is not saturated.

So far, 99,701 COVID-19 cases and 3,032 related deaths have been recorded. To fight the severe effects of the pandemic, vaccines from AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Pfizer, Moderna, and Sinopharm are being administered.

Health authorities plan to immunize over five million people. The country has received 11,700,530 doses in 32 shipments and since Feb. 17, when the vaccine application began.

As of Tuesday, 3 million people, 55.8 percent of the target population, have completed the two-dose coronavirus vaccination schedule. A first dose has been administered to 3.8 million people.