Colombia’s health ministry reported on starting of vaccination, Prensa Latina has learned. The Latin American country has received its first shipment of anti-covid vaccines on Monday.
Colombia’s President Ivan Duque confirmed receiving the first 50,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The health minister said frontline health care workers and the elderly will be the first to get their shots.
In fact, Colombia is one of the last countries in Latin America to start vaccinations, behind Ecuador, Panama and Chile.
Colombia has a contract to buy 10 million doses from Pfizer and it expects to soon receive 1.6 million doses from other laboratories.
According to the health minister, Colombia intends to inoculate 35 million people this year, including hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants and refugees.
Asked about the delay of vaccination, the Colombian leader said his administration was hesitant to start immunizations until it had assurance of getting a steady supply of anti-virus to battle the novel pathogen.
Duque also warned the arrival of vaccines does not end the use of masks and social distancing.
As of Tuesday, Colombia reported on 2,198,000 confirmed covid cases and 57,786 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource Center.
