These are the first 51,481 doses of Pfizer that the country will receive thanks to this international program, which will be intended for non-health frontline staff.
El Salvador received this Monday morning a shipment of 51,480 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer, the first of this laboratory to arrive in the country through the COVAX mechanism, as confirmed by the Minister of Health, Francisco Alabi, who along with other government officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) verified the arrival at the international airport.
“For the first time, a batch of Pfizer vaccines has arrived in our country. A vaccine that requires ultra-low freezing,” said the head of Health.
Prior to the event, Minister Alabi said in an interview with the Front Front this Monday morning that these will be intended for non-medical front-line personnel, including teachers, the Armed Forces, the National Civil Police. (PNC), Civil Protection, and the Fire Department.
The official detailed in the interview that the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination plan could begin in late April, which includes adults over the age of 50 and people with chronic illnesses.
This is the second batch of vaccines donated by COVAX that the country receives and the first manufactured by Pfizer, as the first under this mechanism arrived on March 11, with 33,600 doses, which were from AstraZeneca laboratory.
Until Sunday afternoon, the government did not specify either the amount or the pharmacy to which the vaccines belonged. However, a PAHO publication indicated that this was a shipment of 51,481 doses manufactured by Pfizer.
At noon on Sunday, Minister Alabi evaded answering reporters about the arrival of the new cargo, but a couple of hours later the Government convened the press for this Monday, at 9:00 a.m. morning, to see him arrived from the donation.
Read also: Health registers 4,004 COVID-19 patients discharged from El Salvador Hospital
“We know that there are many modes of acquisition, one of them is global acquisition, we hope that in the coming days we can have the joy of the arrival of more batches of vaccines in the country,” he said. the official, in response to questions from reporters, during the press conference where it was announced that 4,004 people have been discharged from El Salvador Hospital after passing COVID-19.
“This day we are giving 4,004 discharges from this hospital and what a joy it is that more than 4,000 families are thanks to the efforts of health workers and all professionals who work 24 hours a day every day of the week in this hospital,” said Francisco Alabi, Minister of Health.
According to data provided, there have been more than 1,655 female patients and more than 2,393 male patients as of March 21, only this Sunday there were 8 discharges aged between 33 and 81 days.
Within the patients, the one who was receiving medical attention for the virus the longest, was hospitalized for two and a half months, remained with non-invasive mechanical ventilation, but managed to recover, the official said.
Continue reading: Minister of Health maintains secrecy on cost and logistics of vaccines against COVID-19
However, Alabi stresses that even if a person has already been recovered, he must continue with biosecurity measures and assured that as Ministry they continue to conduct tests.
“We have recently conducted more than 20,000 tests in San Salvador alone to realize that one of the most populated areas and the data show us that cases are still declining. The latest of the reports is 156 cases, slightly higher of what we have been observing, but always in trend, “the minister commented.
According to the data provided, the Ministry of Health handles a figure of 63,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and that the trend continues to decline.
The minister also called on the population not to neglect the measures any more now that a holiday period is approaching as the virus is not gone.
According to Alabi, the number of vaccinated people reaches 49,079 doses and he assured that according to the observation made by health professionals, the vaccinated people have not shown any adverse symptoms.
When the first batch of vaccines arrived, Minister Alabi said that with the batch received more than 53,000 front-line employees would have access to the application of the first dose, of the more than 120,000 government workers planned vaccinate.
On this occasion, he also commented that a second batch of vaccines from the COVAX program, from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer-BionTech, was expected in a period of approximately fifteen days.
In addition, before the start of part-time classes, from April 6, the Government has committed to accelerating and prioritizing the vaccination of teachers, which is estimated to happen in late March and early April .
The COVAX initiative will distribute doses of vaccines to 140 countries for free worldwide, including 18 Latin Americans.