Colombia to offer 2nd Covid booster to people over 50

Bogota, May 7 Colombian President Ivan Duque announced that the country will begin the application of a second Covid-19 booster dose to people over 50 years old.

"This will be very important to continue protecting ourselves and saving lives," Xinhua news agency quoted the President as saying at a press conference accompanied by Minister of Health and Social Protection Fernando Ruiz.

Duque said that the second dose can be registered four months after the first booster shot.

"Today we are proud that more than 83 percent of Colomb have had at least one vaccine dose against Covid-19, while 70 per cent are fully immunised," he added.

For his part, Ruiz pointed out that the second booster dose for those over 50 years old will cover more than 12.5 million people, which will help maintain immunity levels at a time when the country is experiencing a significant recovery, with a low number of infections.

According to the latest Health Ministry report, the South American country had accumulated a total of 6,093,645 Covid-19 cases and 139,809 deaths from the disease.