[ad_1]
Of: TT
Published:
Updated:
Photo: Oliver de Ros / AP / TT
Honduran migrants on the border with Guatemala in January. Difficult living conditions make people try to get to the United States.
NEWS
The first doses of the covid vaccine from the Covax global vaccine program are on their way to Honduras and neighboring Guatemala.
Severely scarred Honduras should be a priority in vaccine deliveries.
A first delivery of 48,000 doses of Astra Zeneca’s covid-19 vaccine arrives in Honduras on Saturday through Covax, announces the regional office of the World Health Organization. By May, the plan is for Honduras, with just over nine million inhabitants, to receive about 425,000 doses of vaccines.
Honduras was hit hard by two devastating hurricanes last fall and Covax agreed to prioritize the country and increase vaccine deliveries in the near future. In total, Honduras is eligible for vaccines that cover 20 percent of the population.
Starting Thursday, neighboring Guatemala will receive 81,600 doses of the covid vaccine from Astra Zeneca within the framework of Covax, according to the country’s authorities. This is just over one percent of the total 6.7 million doses that Guatemala has requested from the vaccine program.
The Central American country, with more than 17 million inhabitants, has already received 5,000 doses donated by Israel, as well as 200,000 doses from India. Honduras has also previously received a donation of 5,000 doses of vaccines from Israel.
The goal of the Covax project is for the poorest countries to receive two billion doses for free by 2021, but the initiative has been delayed. According to the plan, by mid-year approximately 340 million doses of vaccine should have been delivered to some 145 countries. However, it is enough to vaccinate just over three percent of the inhabitants of those countries.
Published:
