Record number of Peruvians get vaccinated after government imposes vaccination passport requirements

The Peruvian government announced that more than 1.7 million Peruvians got vaccinated against COVID-19 after the government announced that a vaccination passport order would go into effect on Dec. 10 – requiring people to have received both doses of the vaccine in order to enter public spaces.

According to Minister of Health Hernando Cevallos Flores, 1,759,346 individuals were vaccinated between Dec. 6 and Dec. 12 – presumably in response to the new vaccine passport rule. 

"512,510 people received the first dose, 775,092 the second and 471,744 received the booster. This has raised the percentage of citizens who have received both doses to 71.57 percent – and 84.02 percent of Peruvians have at least received the first dose. We now have more than 20 million people that are fully protected,” the minister told TV Peru.

In recent months, more than 23,000 Peruvians have been hospitalized due to COVID-19. Of these, 21,315 had not been vaccinated, 726 had received the first dose and 1,200 had received the second dose, the minister told journalists – adding that the recent surge in vaccinated individuals across the country left him feeling optimistic.

"Not being vaccinated generates a high probability of going to the ICU or dying. That is why we continue to insist on the importance of getting immunized. Unvaccinated people are three to four times more likely to infect others," Cevallos noted.

The minister also called upon Peruvian authorities to help enforce the new vaccination passport mandate, citing concerns about a possible third wave around Christmas.

"The Ministry of Health needs local authorities to help enforce this new mandate. Laws are established and it is the responsibility of police and local governments to enforce them,” Cevallos stressed.