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-medical personnel on the front line.
El Salvador received on Monday morning a shipment of 51,480 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer, the first in the laboratory to arrive in the country through the COVAX mechanism, as confirmed by the Minister of Health, Francisco Alabí, who together with other government authorities, representatives of the diplomatic corps and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) verified 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 frost, “said the Minister of Health.
Ahead of the event, Minister Alabí said in a face-to-face interview Monday morning that they will be targeted at non-medical frontline personnel, including teachers, the armed forces, the National Civil Police (PNC), Civil Protection and firefighters. .
The official detailed in the interview that the second phase of the vaccination plan against COVID-19, which includes adults over 50 and people with chronic diseases, could begin at the end of April.
This is the second batch of vaccines donated by COVAX that the country receives and the first manufactured by Pfizer, since the first batch under this mechanism arrived on March 11, with 33,600 doses, coming from the AstraZeneca laboratory.
Until Sunday afternoon, the government did not specify the quantity or the pharmaceutical company to which the vaccines belonged. However, a PAHO publication indicated that it was a shipment of 51,481 doses manufactured by Pfizer.
On Sunday, around noon, Minister Alabí avoided answering reporters about the arrival of the new transport, but a few hours later, the Government called the press for this Monday, at 9:00 am, to see the arrival of the donation.
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“We know that there are quite a few ways to purchase, one of them is global procurement, we hope that in the coming days we can have the joy of more batches of vaccines in the country,” the official said in response to questions from reporters during the conference. press in which it was announced that 4,004 people received medical discharge from the Hospital of El Salvador, after overcoming COVID-19.
“Today we offer 4,004 discharges from this hospital and what a joy it is for more than 4,000 families thanks to the efforts of health workers and all the professionals who work 24 hours a day every day of the week in this hospital,” said Francisco Alabí. Health Minister.
According to the data provided, there were more than 1,655 female patients and more than 2,393 male patients as of March 21, only this Sunday there were 8 discharges between 33 and 81 days.
Of the patients, the one who received the most medical care for the virus was hospitalized for two and a half months, remained on non-invasive mechanical ventilation, but managed to recover, the official said.
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However, Alabí emphasizes that, although a person has already been recovered, he must continue the biosecurity measures and assured that, as a ministry, he continues to carry out tests.
“We recently conducted more than 20,000 tests in San Salvador alone to be able to realize that one of the most populated areas and data show that cases continue to decline. The latest report is 156 cases, slightly higher than what we noticed, but always on trend “, the minister commented.
According to the data provided by it, the Ministry of Health manages a number of 63,000 cases confirmed by COVID-19 and that the trend continues to decline.
The minister also urged the population not to neglect the measures now, when a holiday period is approaching, because the virus has not disappeared.
According to Alabí, the number of vaccinated people reaches 49,079 doses and he assured that, according to the observation made by the health professionals, the vaccinated people did not show any adverse symptoms.
When the first batch of donated vaccines arrived, Minister Alabí said that with the batch received, more than 53,000 front-line employees will have access to the first dose, out of the more than 120,000 government workers who are planned to be vaccinated.
On that occasion, he also commented that a second batch of COVAX vaccines program from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer-BionTech was expected in a period of about fifteen days.
In addition, before the next start of the mixed courses, starting with April 6, the Government has promised to accelerate and give priority to vaccination of teachers, which it estimates will take place in late March and early April.
The COVAX initiative will distribute vaccine doses free of charge in 140 countries around the world, including 18 Latin American countries.