Colombia receives almost one million vaccines from AstraZeneca through Covax

Colombia received this Sunday 912,000 doses of the vaccine from the pharmaceutical AstraZeneca against coronavirus, a batch with which the country will be able to accelerate the National Vaccination Plan in which it has already applied 4,318,314 sera.

The vaccines arrived through the Covax multilateral mechanism, which Colombia co-chairs, and according to the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, their distribution will be key for the country that is going through the third and most serious wave since the beginning of the pandemic.

“Covax has a commitment with Colombia and with the whole world, and Covax has had the opportunity to arrive today with 912,000 vaccines in a time that is absolutely opportune,” said the minister upon receiving the AstraZeneca batch in Bogotá.

The Government’s goal is to vaccinate 35.2 million people this year, equivalent to 70% of the national population, to achieve herd immunity.

According to the minister, the country has with these new doses “a very important opportunity to give a boost to our Vaccination Plan and to be able to advance in stage two, which is the one that covers those over 60 years of age, which is the population with higher risk ”.

He added that “a multilateral mechanism like Covax can really make a difference for our societies in the provision of vaccines.”

The head of the Health portfolio also pointed out that next week a million Sinovac vaccines and another 549,000 doses of Pfizer will arrive in the country.

SAFE VACCINES THANKS TO COOPERATION

For her part, the ambassador of the European Union (EU) in Colombia, Patricia Llombart, who attended the reception of the new batch, stressed that these doses mean that more than 400,000 people “will find protection against the virus and also peace of mind ”, Since AstraZeneca requires two doses.

“We are very happy to see that the shipment that arrives today is the result of international cooperation,” added Llombart, underlining that as in many countries, including Colombia, “we are experiencing a new wave,” vaccine production must be accelerated, a challenge to which the EU remains committed.

The third peak of the pandemic has the health networks throughout the country on red alert due to the huge demand for beds in intensive care units (ICU), which reached the limit of its capacity in cities such as Medellín (northwest) or Santa Marta and Barranquilla (north).

Infections and deaths from coronavirus have increased dramatically in recent weeks in Colombia, which accumulates 2,757,274 cases and 70,886 fatalities.

“The vaccine that arrives in the country is a safe, effective vaccine, it is a quality vaccine (…), be sure that when your appointment comes you have to go and apply it, the one they offer us is the best vaccine that we can have against covid-19 ”, encouraged for her part the representative in Colombia of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Gina Tambini.

Today’s is the second batch of AstraZeneca that Colombia receives, since on March 20, 244,800 vaccines from that laboratory arrived in the country, also through Covax.