The government-led vaccination campaign against influenza and coronavirus has inoculated more than 775,000 people across the country to-date, since the program was launched on 3rd April 2024. Health authorities are urging the population to get vaccinated to prevent respiratory issues as temperatures start to plunge during winter.
Luis Cousirat, director of the Expanded Immunization Program (PAI), has announced that over the course of the first six weeks of the campaign, around 650,000 doses of the influenza vaccine and more than 125,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been given.
Of the total doses administered, more than 200,000 were in boys and girls and there are also a high number of older adults vaccinated. The running total represents approximately 43% of the capacity of the program, with the remainder available to any Paraguayan resident who wants them, on a first-come-first-served basis.
How to get vaccinated against influenza or covid in Paraguay
Vaccinations are available from 7am to either 5pm or 6pm (depending on the location) in all health regions of the country. The complete list is available on the Paraguayan government’s vaccination centre website (in Spanish).
“We have vaccinations in family health units, health centers, regional hospitals and maternal and child hospitals. In all these places we are vaccinating not only from the winter campaign, but also the vaccines from the regular schedule of the Ministry of Health,” said Cousirat.
In Asunción, PAI staff are also setting up stalls which offer vaccinations on the spot in highly-visited locations, such as shopping malls and the weekly Palmear Fair in downtown Asunción every Saturday. Citizens and residents just need to show their cédula to receive a vaccine.
The director stressed that vaccines are available in all locations, and called on all people to get vaccinated, especially children, older adults, pregnant women and people with underlying diseases, such as diabetes or hypertension.
“We make a very special call to pregnant women, because influence is really a very serious disease in pregnancy that can cause serious complications,” Cousirat added.
