The Minister for Health, Eyra Ruiz, announced that possibly in the third quarter of 2021 the vaccination against COVID-19 of the population of 16 to 59 years of age without chronic diseases, which is the active population that works and does not belong vulnerable groups.

This, in view of the fact that "in July, August and September Panama will receive many doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines for sweeps by province."

Likewise, the person in charge of the National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (Senacyt), Eduardo Ortega, announced on Tuesday that in Panama, if the health authorities approve vaccinating minors between 12 and 15 years of age against COVID-19, this group could be immunized in the fourth quarter of the year.

Already in previous days, the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, announced that Bocas del Toro, Herrera, Los Santos and Ngäbe Buglé will begin vaccination with young people aged 16 and over, instead of starting with adults over 60 years of age.

In the Vaccination Plan against COVID-19, established by the Ministry of Health (Minsa) of Panama and divided into 4 Phases, priority was given in Phase 1 to health personnel in the first line of battle at the national level and to the levels of safety.

In Phase 2, the priority was adults over 60 years of age, people with disabilities, and patients between the ages of 16 and 59 with chronic diseases. However, other non-priority groups were vaccinated without even having completed the vaccination of the country's older adults, such as the case of teachers and administrators of schools and universities, under the premise of returning to classrooms in a blended way.

Chronic patients, for their part, demand that the authorities be given a date for the start of vaccination of this vulnerable population. The rest of the elderly and people with disabilities in the interior of the country are waiting to be immunized.

According to statements by the head of the Ministry of Nursing, Eusebia de Copete, "chronically ill patients will be vaccinated little by little, depending on how the doses arrive. He clarified that "hemodialysis patients and those who have been transplanted, have already been vaccinated."

Before Phase 4, which according to Eyra Ruiz, is scheduled to begin in July, there are the Phase 3 groups that include the population of the regions and areas of difficult access, as well as the population in risk occupations such as airports, Customs and Migration. Drivers of public transport and cargo, and deprived of liberty.