Resisting vaccines endangers all

What percentage of hospitalized patients in public and/or private medical centers is not vaccinated against Covid-19? The exact figure is unknown, but data collected by La Prensa reveal that it is the vast majority. Very few people, having been vaccinated, have had to be admitted to a hospital. Or, put bluntly, vaccines have proven effective against severe disease.

However, there is still a current of Panamanians who refuse to be vaccinated, something that is their right. But the problem of this individual decision can have consequences for the community since the risk of contagion persists both for those who want to be vaccinated, and have not yet achieved it, and for those who do not want it. Those who resist potentially become disease vectors, putting at risk hundreds of thousands of people who have not yet been immunized because their turn has not come or because vaccines, for now, are insufficient for everyone. Those who are reluctant put a heavy economic and health burden on our health system. What will the government do in this situation? LA PRENSA, Jul. 22.