The Ministry of Public Health (MSP) has developed a new format for its COVID-19 Infographics that is supposed to be published daily through official channels.

Unfortunately, the MSP stopped releasing figures in the old format on July 23rd and launched the new system on July 24th, which crashed on July 26th and has not been restarted.

Faced with the lack of up-to-date data in open formats to be downloaded, health authorities limited themselves this week to saying that they are “working on strengthening the computer security of the interactive tool they developed, due to the fact that data that was not previously anonymized was leaked last Sunday.”

We can report that as of August 7, 2021, there were 7,995 deaths associated with COVID-19 in 2021 and 23,793 in 2020, for a total of 31,788 (22,362 confirmed and 9,426 probable).

Similarly, as of August 7, 2021, there have been 581,379 cases of COVID-19 (491,831 confirmed and 89,455 probable).

For an excellent non-government resource of much greater detail on the statistics of the coronavirus in Ecuador, see: Proyecto Rodillo: Ecuador

Ecuador, in the top 5 countries in Latin America with the highest vaccination rate

The vaccination rates worldwide keep rising, but the global average is far from reaching a number allowing the return to normal.

However, the outlook in the Americas is more encouraging than expected. At least 50.01% of the North American population has had at least one dose of the vaccine; 45.52% in South America.

Ecuador ranks fifth within the Latin American countries with a rate of 57.5% (as of August 9, 2021). With these figures, it surpasses nations such as Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Bolivia.

Furthermore, with this percentage of the population inoculated with a single dose, Ecuador is ahead of the European average, which is 50.18%.

It should be noted that these figures do not refer to the number of vaccines applied, but to the percentage of the population of each country that has received at least one dose.

According to the latest count of the Ministry of Health, dated August 8, 9,929,240 first doses have been applied; 3,422,242 of the second; and a total a total of 13,351,482.

Within the vaccination plan 9/100, the target population of 9 million doses has already been reached.

There is a new report from the government that outlines the number of vaccinations that have been given in Ecuador. That can be found at here.

The highlights of that report are (as of August 8th):

• 1,574,728 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been given
• 4,070,061 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been given
• 7,706,693 doses of the Sinovac vaccine have been given
• Herd immunity is expected at 12,406,265 people completely vaccinated (70% of the population).

Ten countries have authorized a third dose of vaccine

Although the WHO says that so far, the scientific data does not justify the application of a third dose, many countries have already taken the lead on doing so.

A third dose of COVID-19 vaccine has been approved in 10 countries around the world to deal with the delta variant. But the debate over the need for a booster dose is on the table.

According to the WHO, scientific data “do not justify for the moment” that dose, and argue that its application “increases the inequality” of vaccination in the world.

“We understand the concern of governments to protect their populations from the delta variant, but we cannot accept that countries that have already used the majority of vaccine supplies, use even more, while the world’s most vulnerable populations remain without protection,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The health agency asked member countries to be “extremely cautious” and “not be tempted” to start administering third doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Although the WHO announcement is clear, the pharmaceutical companies that developed the doses have also presented the results of their analyzes of the third doses.

For example, Sinovac said that the levels of immune protection after the application of the booster dose is between three and five times higher.

American pharmaceutical company Pfizer saidd that a third dose of its vaccine produces levels of antibodies against the delta variant five times higher in people between 18 and 55 years old. And it generates up to 11 times more antibodies in the population between 65 and 85 years old.

Pfizer estimates that that third dose could “boost” protection and potentially multiply neutralization by 100, compared to the current two-dose schedule.

What is Ecuador’s position?

The Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, said last Monday, August 2nd, that a random immunology control will be carried out in the population to determine if enough antibodies have been developed or if a third dose is needed.

In addition, she explained that “with the comprehensive pandemic control plan we would hope and trust that a third dose is not necessary.”

Despite this, the MSP does not rule out the booster dose since it all depends on scientific evidence.

“Our decisions will be based on evidence, never hand-picked by the example of other countries. The decisions made here in public health is because we have shown that it is necessary,” said Garzón.

President Lasso said that they are already reviewing scientific opinions on a possible third dose and added that if required, the country will be ready.

Application of the third dose by country

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Government has encouraged the population to take a third booster dose, as a prevention against the rapid spread of the delta variant throughout the world. As of July 28th, a total of 304,572 people had received a third booster dose.

Uruguay

The South American country approved the administration of a third dose, in this case of the American Pfizer vaccine, to those who have completed the immunization schedule against COVID-19 with the Sinovac vaccine. The third dose will be administered with a minimum of 90 days between the second dose of Sinovac and the new one from Pfizer.

Chile

The Government announced that as of next August 11th, it will begin a program of “booster doses” against COVID-19. The AstraZeneca vaccine will be used for all people over 55 years of age who have already completed their inoculation with Coronavac.

About two million people over 55 are expected to be vaccinated with booster doses during the first four weeks of this plan.

France

According to health authorities, the third dose should be applied four weeks after the second. People who can access the shot are those who have received transplants or are taking strong immunosuppressive medications.

Germany

In this European country, the third dose of the vaccine will be available in September 2021, for the most vulnerable groups. Only messenger RNA vaccines will be applied, that is, those from Pfizer and Moderna.

Israel

Israel offers a third injection of the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech to those over 60.

The booster campaign turns the country into a testing ground for a third dose, before final evaluation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Russia

The Moscow mayor’s office announced in July that vaccination points would offer the third dose of the vaccine. This after the state Ministry of Health allowed the booster dose to those who had received the vaccine six months or more ago.

United Arab Emirates

The booster will be applied six months after the second injection. It can be from Sinopharm or Pfizer, which were the vaccines they initially applied.

Bahrain

To access the third dose, people must wait six months after the second Sinopharm vaccine. The Government will give priority to those over 50, first responders, people with obesity and low immunity.

Britain

The country will offer booster vaccines against the coronavirus to 32 million Britons starting September 6th. This third dose campaign is expected to be completed in early December 2021.