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President Iván Duque announced this Saturday that the Covax initiative confirmed that Colombia will be in the first group of countries that will receive the vaccines acquired through this mechanism, which guarantees the supply of biologicals to launch the National Vaccination Plan against covid-19 in February.
“Today we receive information from the Covax multilateral strategy indicating that Colombia has been ratified among the 18 countries in which the supply of vaccines from that mechanism will begin. There are 18 countries in the world, four in Latin America and there is Colombia ”, the Head of State highlighted in a statement from the Plaza de Armas of the Casa de Nariño.
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The determination to include Colombia within the first group of countries that will receive the vaccines is due to the fact that the group of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have verified, in the territory, that Colombia has the technical capacities and human talent to carry out a rapid implementation of its vaccination plan.
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Duque added that with the communication of the Covax initiative it is clear that Colombia will receive the vaccines in February, a period consistent with the date of February 20 that the Government set for the start of the National Mass Vaccination Plan to 35.2 million Colombians in 2021.
Through that Covax alliance, Colombia will be receiving vaccines produced by the laboratories of Pfizer-BionTech and AstraZeneca.
The president reiterated that “Colombia has acquired 20 million doses for 10 million people, through Covax; 10 million doses for 5 million people with Pfizer; 10 million doses for 5 million people with AstraZeneca; 10 million doses for 5 million people with Moderna; 9 million doses for 9 million people with Janssen, as long as it is a single dose. And 2 million doses have been purchased for 1.2 million Colombians with Sinovac. This gives us 35.2 million Colombians who will be vaccinated with this Plan ”.
(Also read: Keys to the vaccination against covid-19 that begins on February 20)
During the statement in the Casa de Nariño, the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz Gómez, pointed out that to include Colombia in the first group of countries for the supply of vaccines against covid-19, Covax valued all the capacities of the country .
“In order to be accepted, Colombia has had to demonstrate that it has a structured vaccination plan, as we already have, even by decree. Second, to have the entire legal framework adjusted to the reception of vaccines and all that this implies, and third, to have the necessary logistics to be able to handle vaccines in the case of Pfizer with deep freezing, ”explained the official.
(Also read: J&J reveals efficacy of vaccine against covid-19 that will arrive in Colombia)
