Paraguay Reaches Historic Vaccination Levels and Looks Ahead to 2025
Paraguay’s vaccination efforts have reached unprecedented heights this year, with plans to integrate new biologicals into the Extended Program on Immunization (PAI) by 2025. Notably, the country has achieved a staggering 98% coverage in vaccinating girls and boys against the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Luis Cousirat, director of the PAI, shared these remarkable figures with La Nación/Nación Media. Over the past three years, the coverage of HPV vaccination has seen a significant boost, rising from 93% in 2022 to 95% in 2023, and now closing at an impressive 98% in 2024.
The success story doesn’t end there. Since the introduction of the HPV vaccine, more than 700,000 adolescents have been vaccinated. This year alone, over 48,000 girls have received the vaccine. Cousirat highlighted, "Today, a girl who was vaccinated in 2013 is now 22 years old, and we have protected more than 700,000 girls and adolescents against cervical cancer."
The campaign has also extended its reach to boys, with over 22,000 receiving the dose since the strategy’s launch in August. Cousirat hailed 2024 as a "very positive" year for population immunization.
This year saw an expansion of the HPV vaccination age range for girls from 9 to 18 years and the inclusion of boys in the HPV vaccination calendar.
Looking ahead, Paraguay aims to broaden HPV vaccine coverage to boys aged 9 to 14, and to introduce the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for high-risk populations, such as those with rheumatological conditions, the immunocompromised, and individuals undergoing complex surgeries.
These efforts are part of a strategy to continue improving Paraguay’s vaccination coverage and protecting its citizens from preventable diseases.
