Colombia to Start Mass Vaccination Plan on February 20th

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Colombian President Iván Duque on Friday afternoon, January 29th, announced that the country had secured the 61.5 million doses required to vaccinate the 35 million Colombians, thereby achieving herd immunity in the national territory.

This was made possible through the purchase of ten million doses of the Moderna vaccine for five million Colombians, and 2.5 million doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine for 1.25 million people.

Accordingly, Duque said that “we always mentioned the month of February very clearly, while we were sure about the logistic developments, as well as about completing the procurement process for Colombians and meeting the schedules as provided by the National Vaccination Plan. That is why today, along with Minister Fernando Ruiz, we have also decided that mass vaccination in Colombia will begin on February 20th”.

In parallel, the Colombian president also seized the opportunity to sign a decree providing the scope and regulatory framework for the National Vaccination Plan against Covid-19, during the live broadcast of the ‘Prevención y Acción’ show. The decree “will be issued in the next few hours and, subsequently, will be available for the analysis, reading and scrutiny of all Colombians”.

Thus, the weeks leading up to February 20th will be focused on the implementation of effective means of communication, educational activities, campaigns and, along with all parties involved, the strategies and logistics as set forth in the National Vaccination Plan. “This will enable us to start in a sustainable way over time” and with guaranteed schedules, said Duque, adding that the goal is to close the first quarter of the year with at least 1,000,000 people vaccinated.

However, the Minister of Health and Social Protection Fernando Ruiz stated that ten million doses for five million people will be delivered to the country by Pfizer, the same proportions as with AstraZeneca and Moderna; as well as nine million doses for the same number of people by Janssen -Johnson&Johnson- and 2.5 million doses for 1,250,000 people by Sinovac.

“In total, Colombia has purchased 61.5 million doses, with an investment of over two billion pesos, which will enable the vaccination of 35 million 250 thousand people during 2021,” added the official, celebrating the diversified supply which allows having different plans to address all potential non-delivery risks, as well as Colombia’s own geographic challenges.

In other words, Ruiz assured that Colombia will be able to complete the vaccination process of 35 million Colombians during the 11 months of 2021. The vaccines will be delivered on a monthly basis according to the following availability:

February 337,000

March 3,333,764

April 4,663,843

May 3,839,843

June 7,553,450

July 8,294,941

August 11,258,941

September 5,642,941

October 6,260,116

November 4,934,352

December 3,166,666

Ruiz pointed out that these amounts are enough to cover virtually the whole population over 16 years of age in the country and “allows us to conduct a significant part of the process between the start and mid-year. This is a very important appeal to regional authorities to be fully prepared and to understand that we are going to experience a moment of great acceleration during this season”, advised Ruiz.

He also noted that, once the vaccines reach the country, the work will be in the hands of regional health authorities, that will need to ensure the correct execution of the program, “as well as the confidence of all Colombians, who need to understand that these vaccines are not only highly effective but also safe and will allow us to overcome the Covid-19 issue in Colombia”.

For his part, president Duque urged people not to spread doubts and to avoid false and ill-intentioned news. “Our message to all Colombians is that this is not the time for politics, nor for fake news, or for distorting. We invite you to be united in this massive vaccination in our country, based on science, not on politics, on the criteria of experts, not on occasional interpretations that are often biased,” he said.

Source: infobae