The president of Colombia, Ivan Duke, received this Friday a shipment with more than 1.1 million vaccines from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer against covid-19 donated by Spain, which were delivered in Bogotá by the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Pilar Cancela.
(See: Half of the world would already be fully vaccinated against covid).
At the event, which took place at the Military Transport Air Command (Catam), the Colombian president stated that “the brotherhood between Colombia and Spain is once again confirmed with a fact that will provide many benefits to Colombians“.
This shipment is part of a donation of 5,488,470 doses from Pfizer that Spain announced to Colombia on January 3.
Nation state, Added to other deliveries made last year, they place Spain as the first international donor of vaccines to Colombia, with 6,546,070 doses from Pfizer and AstraZeneca. They are followed in the list U.S, with 6,000,000 doses to date.
(See: Why the WHO considers it premature to talk about victories against covid).
The vaccines received this Friday by the country will be distributed in the most vulnerable and remote areas of the country, like the Pacific region.
Duque thanked Spain for the support it provides to the National Vaccination Plan, which to date has managed to approach 80% of the Colombian population with one dose, exceed 63% with the complete scheme and apply almost six million booster doses.
(See: Acute phase of covid-19 could come to an end this 2022, according to WHO).
VACCINATION ADVANCES
“This validates that mass vaccination is advancing at the pace of safe reactivation, and it is advancing with the support of allies such as the Kingdom of Spain.“, added the president, while asserting that it is a gesture that “validates once again that by working together (…) we will achieve greater stability“.
Pfizer is one of the most widely used vaccines in the country.
AFP
For her part, Pilar Cancela pointed out that the delivery of doses is “a sample of the tremendous affection and empathy of two allied countries that walk together and accompany each other“, to indicate that it is “one of the main donationsWhat has Spain done?
“We have a bottleneck in the nations to which donations are being transferred because they are not capable of absorbing as many vaccines, but this is not the case in Colombia“, celebrated the Secretary of State, to emphasize that “Spanish cooperation is empathic with Colombia“.
Lastly, the Spanish Government referred to the President, Pedro Sanchez, to reaffirm that from the coronavirus pandemic “we have to go out together“.
(See: Booster dose against covid: new recommendations from the Ministry of Health).
Cancela began, this Thursday, a three-day visit to Colombia to learn about Spanish cooperation projects focused on human rights, gender violence and social cohesion, and then will travel to Bolivia.
According to what the Spanish embassy said a month ago, when making the announcement of the donation, the vaccines will be distributed with the logistical support of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and it is also one more action of Team Europe/Team Europe in Colombia, formed by the European Union and its Member States.
Spain has donated more than 50 million vaccines to different countries, which positions it as the sixth largest donor in the world and the fourth in the European Union.
Until February 1, 2022, 72,153,729 vaccines against covid-19 had been applied in Colombia, and 31.7 million people already have their complete schedule, while 5.8 million have received the booster dose.
EFE
