On Monday, Venezuela resumed face-to-face learning for over eight million elementary and high-school students and COVID-19 vaccination for children older than two years.
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"Accelerating children immunization is essential to ensure a safe return to schools," Health Minister Carlos Alvarado stated and urged students to comply with COVID-19 protocols such as wearing masks and disinfecting their hands regularly.
He also recalled that Venezuela has enough vaccines to immunize students and apply booster doses to health professionals, minors over three years old, citizens over 60 years who were vaccinated six months ago.
"We are well prepared! By following the instructions from both President Nicolas Maduro and health authorities, we will be able to successfully complete this year's second semester of learning," Education Minister Yelitze Santaella stated.
After a 19-month suspension due to the pandemic, Venezuela resumed face-to-face learning on Oct. 25, 2021. On that day, health professionals began to immunize citizens over 12 years of age in 5,000 educational centers nationwide with the Cuban Soberana 02 vaccine.
So far, about 18 million Venezuelans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and over 42 percent of the population has been fully immunized against the disease.
As of Jan. 10, this Latin American country had reported 447,288 coronavirus cases and 5,357 related deaths, nine of which occurred yesterday.