19 July 2021
The success of the campaign, according to the Mayor himself, was based on the work of the PumaKatari and ChikiTiti buses in the transfer of the population to the 12 planned vaccination points through 25 enabled routes.
More than 72% of the vaccinable population of the La Paz Municipality over 18 years of age received the first dose. This was stated by the City’s Mayor, Ivan Arias, at the end of the day, in a conference with authorities from the Ministry of Health and the Governance. “We have fulfilled the idea that seemed impossible (Sunday, July 18), 72% of the La Paz population of the Municipality of La Paz is vaccinated with their first dose. We wanted to reach 70%, we have exceeded the goal and this is thanks to the drive, to the dedication of the people of La Paz,” highlighted Mayor Arias.
Last Sunday, there were 81 vaccination brigades distributed in 12 points. We also had the collaboration of 525 public transport operators, 44 PumaKatari and ChikiTiti buses, from 25 exclusive bus stops, 521 officials from the Mayor’s Office of La Paz. The campaign has been joined by seven companies that supported mass vaccination together with institutions such as the Bolivian Red Cross and the Medical College of La Paz.
The Secretary of Health of the La Paz Mayor’s Office, Cecilia Vargas, counted 9,938 applications of the first dose only in the municipal area.
The national head of the Expanded Immunization Program (PAI), Max Enriquez, stressed that the country has enough vaccines to apply to the population. In addition, he proposed to deepen the campaigns in the municipalities.
“Almost six million doses [of vaccines] have reached the country, which are available. We have a balance between the first doses of one million two hundred thousand doses, they are still available in each of the Departments and this warrants that we redouble our efforts, not only in the Municipality but in the Department to be able to conclude with these doses,” he highlighted.
For his part, the Governor of La Paz, Santos Quispe, thinks about replicating the campaign in the rest of the Department. “We have determined with the Emergency Operations Center (COED) to carry out this massive vaccination campaign. We are starting in the city of La Paz, then we are going to go to another Municipality that is the city of El Alto and then to the 20 Provinces,” said the authority. The success of the campaign, according to the Mayor himself, was based on the work of the PumaKatari and ChikiTiti buses in the transfer of the population to the 12 planned vaccination points through 25 enabled routes. For example, residents of Pampahasi and San Isidro took advantage of the bus service to get to the UMSA School of Medicine to get vaccinated.
