Colombia receives 2.5 million J&J vaccines donated by the US

Colombia received 2.5 million single-dose COVID-19 vaccines from Johnson & Johnson donated by the United States on Thursday, which will allow the South American country to intensify its vaccination campaign at a time when maintain high levels of infections and deaths from the pandemic.

The South American nation of 50 million inhabitants, which has so far registered 4.24 million infections and 106,544 deaths from coronavirus, has applied 18.2 million vaccines, including 6.7 million double doses.

The single-dose vaccines produced by the pharmaceutical company Janssen, a unit of Jhonson & Jhonson, will allow Colombia to extend the vaccination campaign to remote areas of the country.

“We are here to help Colombia achieve herd immunity with a minimum of 70% of its population receiving at least one dose of vaccine by September. The United States is proud and honored to be part of that effort,” said the Counselor of the United States Embassy, ​​Mark Wells.

“We are especially proud to provide single-dose vaccines facilitating access to some of the most vulnerable populations in the country,” he added.

The shipment of vaccines arrived at the Bogotá airport on a Colombian Air Force plane from Memphis and was received by President Iván Duque, who thanked the United States Government for the donation, the South American country’s main trading partner and its greatest ally. in the fight against drug trafficking.

“This will allow us to reach different places in our country,” Duque said.

The vaccine donation was announced Monday by US President Joe Biden during a telephone conversation with his Colombian counterpart.

The South American country closed agreements with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Janssen de Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Sinovac, and also participates in the multilateral mechanism COVAX, which guarantees 66.5 million doses for vaccination against COVID-19, without counting on the donation from the United States.