Panama is seeking three million doses of the Russian vaccine as epidemiologists and public health specialists warn that the country must prepare for the third wave of Covid-19, which could begin within eight weeks, after the opening of economic activities.

Epidemiologist Arturo Rebollón stressed that we must take advantage of this time to reduce cases to the maximum, so that when the new wave arrives, its impact will be lee felt..

that the Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, has sent a note to the director of the Russian Fund for Direct Investment, Kirill Dmitriev, asking for 3 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.

According to Sucre, the Government wants the doses for 1.5 million people (two doses per person with 21 days between doses), to receive them in March.

Panama went through the first wave of Covid-19 cases in July and, between December and January, a second wave. Now, according to epidemiologists and public health specialists, the threat of a third wave of infections is real, if one takes into

For Rebollón, what is happening in Europe is like "seeing the future", since, with the reopening of various activities in the country without greater sanitary control or compliance with biosafety measures, we could have an acceleration of cases in eight weeks.

In the words of Rebollón, the arrival of this third wave is "imminent", but to avoid its great impact, it is necessary to take advantage of the current time by vaccinating as many people in the shortest possible time, establishing regulations for businesses to operate in open spaces and wear face masks.

“Now that there are fewer viruses, we have to bring it to zero. At the speed, we have we can win, since we have 25% fewer cases per week. That means that next week we will have 25% less and, if that rate is maintained, in eight weeks there would be 100 cases a day, which is when the third wave would arrive ”, he explained.

Given the possible threat, he considers that the opening of activities in the coming days should be safe and sent a message to the Health authorities so that instead of scolding and imposing fines on the population that is in open spaces, they better act as a teacher who gives lessons and never tires of teaching.

 Vaccination

In the opinion of public health specialist Jorge Luis Prosperi, the third wave is a real possibility in Panama, but with a new element in the pandemic, which is vaccination.

"If it is not possible to vaccinate 70% of the population to achieve herd immunity this year and if the population, government and private companies do not comply with the part they have to comply, this rebound in cases that is so much talked about could occur”, he warned.

The World Health Organization recommends avoiding crowded places, close contact environments, and confined and closed environments.