Colombia receives 500,000 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine

Colombia received on Monday a first batch of 50,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for its mass immunization campaign against the coronavirus which is due to start on February 20.

The cargo arrived in Bogota on a flight from Belgium, President Ivan Duque said from El Dorado International Airport.

Read also: Covid-19: Colombia exceeds the threshold of 50,000 dead

The vaccination program plans to immunize

in a month, the president said.

People over 80 and health workers will be given priority.

Ultimately, 36 million people, out of the country's 50 million inhabitants, should be vaccinated during the year 2021, according to the government plan.

In addition to Pfizer-BioNTech, the South American country has signed agreements for the purchase of vaccines from SinoVac, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson laboratories, and participates in the Covax mechanism, set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) .

Since the detection of a first case in March 2020, Colombia has recorded nearly 2.2 million reported cases, including over 57,000 fatalities, making it the fourth most bereaved country in Latin America relative to its population. .