It is unknown how many doses will be taken to the country and what laboratory they are from
At the end of January or very late in mid-February, the first batch of vaccines against Covid-19 will be brought to El Salvador, as part of a donation from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Kate O’Brien, WHO’s director of immunization, announced yesterday that vaccine donation is part of the Global Access Fund for Covid-19 (COVAX) vaccine initiative. $ 7 billion will be invested in this program.
The director of Immunization said on Thursday in a virtual conversation with the media that “we only need around $ 7 billion to deliver enough vaccines to these (beneficiary) countries by the end of 2021. The initiative has already raised about $ 6 billion of that $ 7 billion. “
Although the total number of vaccines that will come in this first batch is unknown, El Salvador is part of 92 beneficiary countries, due to its difficult economic situation. Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic are some of the favored states in the region.
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“We will start delivering these vaccines probably in late January and if not certainly in early February and mid-February, so that the countries of Africa and South Asia and other countries in the world of these 92 who have less capacity to pay for vaccines are going to be vaccinated and distributed at the same time as high-income countries, ”the WHO official said during a conversation on digital platforms.
The goal of the WHO COVAX mechanism is to get vaccines for 20% of the population in each participating country by the end of this year. 92% of the poorest countries will see their purchase costs covered.
According to O’Brien, the vaccine that would be distributed is the Pzifer BioNTech, with which so far the government of El Salvador has not officially expressed an agreement, but with the British-Swedish AstraZeneca. However, representatives of the Medical College have expressed that the Bukele administration already has advanced arrangements with Pfizer BioNTech.
“We already reviewed the data from the first one who completed the review, which is the Pfizer vaccine and the WHO issued what is known as an emergency use list so effectively, what that means is that is confirming that we have reviewed the data and that the data meet the standards, that the highest standards that have been set for the overall use of these vaccines were set, ”O’Brien said.
For now, in El Salvador the only vaccine that already has the endorsement of the National Directorate of Medicines for its import and distribution is the AstraZeneca, endorsement made public on December 30.
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This WHO donation will help El Salvador receive millions of doses of the vaccine, but not enough as the government has said it plans to vaccinate 4.5 million people.
At the end of last December, within the 2021 budget, the Legislative Assembly approved via decree 389 a loan of $ 50 million to the Inter-American Development Bank, for the purchase of vaccines by COVID-19.
The Minister of Health, Francisco Alabi, has previously stated that the Government seeks to have 9 million doses, with the goal of vaccinating 4.5 million people in the country. The priority in this vaccination would be for front-line staff (medical professionals, nurses, soldiers, firefighters, etc.), people over 60 and those with chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, etc.) who are more susceptible to become infected with COVID-19.
To date, the country reports 48,255 cases of people infected with Covid-19. Of these, 1,398 have died and 42,902 have recovered, according to official information.