The government of Buenos Aires Province, home to some 17 million inhabitants, launched a unique Friday night activity this week as it looks to expand Covid-19 vaccination in the region.
The ‘Noche de las Vacunas’ (“Night of the Vaccines”) event, aimed at encouraging residents and travellers alike to get jabbed against Covid-19, took place in tourist hotspots simultaneously across Argentina’s most populous region, where hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers are enjoying their summer vacations.
The government initiative – inspired by the City’s famous ‘Night of the Museums’ event – has led to the deployment of hundreds of night-time vaccination points at seaside resorts across the Atlantic coast being installed. The aim is to reach young people who have not yet been immunised against the virus or are yet to complete their inoculation schedule, officials said.
"What we are proposing for the children is not that they stay locked up," Buenos Aires Province Health Minister Nicolás Kreplak told Radio Con Vos.
Vaccination push
As of January 31, at least 87.7 percent of citizens and residents nationwide had received a dose of Covid-19 vaccine, while 77.7 percent had completed the vaccination schedule , receiving two. Just over 29.9 percent had already received a third “booster” shot.
Argentina, with a population of over 45 million, has recorded 8.55 million infections and 122,439 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. It is currently experiencing a third wave of infections, dominated by the Omicron variant, with a daily average of more than 300 deaths.
On Friday, the National Health Ministry announced that 40,904 infections over the previous 24 hours, with 288 fatalities.
The provincial government's campaign, which will apply all three types of doses, includes everyone over the age of three, Argentines and foreigners, with some exceptions applying for a booster dose.
Governor Axel Kicillof's government considers this summer campaign to be a prologue in advance of another to be carried out at the beginning of the primary and secondary school cycles in February and March, when it plans to set up new vaccination posts in educational institutions.
– TIMES/AFP
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