A municipality in northwestern Colombia imposed Monday, August 2, under penalty of a fine, compulsory eight-day confinement on residents reluctant to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
“
We have to be tough as leaders.
Everyone must be vaccinated,
”those who are not“
will not be able to travel in the municipality of Sucre,
”Mayor Elvira Julia Mercado said on a local radio.
Read also: Macron's travel expenses melted with the confinements
The municipality has the necessary doses to immunize its 28,000 administered but, according to the city council, only 10,000 inhabitants are vaccinated due to the circulation of false information on vaccines. "
There are religions that balk at vaccination, that the vaccine is the antichrist, others say (that the vaccinated) will die in two years ...
", she said.
According to the municipal decree, vaccination certificates must be presented to be able to access the shops, bars, restaurants or banks of the municipality. Checks will be carried out at the entrances and exits of the city perimeter. Among the non-vaccinated people, only those who need to receive care or who have an appointment at a vaccination center will be allowed to leave their homes. Violators face a fine of 260 dollars (approximately 219 euros) and criminal prosecution in the event of a repeat offense. Local authorities have announced a reassessment of these provisions within a week.
Colombia is the third Latin American country with the most deaths per capita after Peru and Brazil. Although the deadliest peak of the pandemic seems to be receding after 17 months of health emergency and 12.2 million of the 50 million inhabitants fully vaccinated, some 121,000 dead and nearly 5 million positive cases have been recorded. Sucre is the first municipality to take such a decision, but the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, has warned that the country is not ruling out also implementing restrictive measures for those who refuse vaccination.
