The Dominican government has paid $ 19 million for one million doses of coronavirus vaccines purchased in the People’s Republic of China and received yesterday by health authorities at Las Américas airport.
This was reported by Vice President Raquel Peña in statements to the press when she went to the terminal to receive the cargo sent by the company Sinovac which arrived in the country yesterday after 5:00 pm on a charter flight that left Beijing .
With the purchase of vaccines came 50,000 doses and 51,200 syringes donated by China to support the National Vaccination Plan promoted by the Dominican Republic.
“We want to thank ROC for allowing the arrival of one million Sinovac vaccines and 50,000 donated from Sinopharm. It is a demonstration of China’s solidarity with the Dominican Republic, “he said.
The coordinator of the Health Cabinet promised that “from tomorrow we will continue the entire plan that we have executed, so that we can vaccinate the population as soon as possible, as promised by the president (Luis Abinader)”.
Peña said they will continue to work for more vaccines to reach the Dominican Republic, as promised by Abinader and especially thanked the country’s ambassador to the country, Zhang Run, for the facilities in his country, so the arrival of the cargo was possible.of vaccines.
He said he is waiting for export permits from China to receive a new $ 1 million shipment, which is due to arrive before the end of the month.
For his part, Ambassador Zhang expressed his desire to “continue to work with the Dominican government and achieve the final victory against the virus.”
“The health cabinet explained that only 25,000 of these vaccines will be used as first doses and will store the remaining 50%, so that 28 days later they can be used as second doses and thus ensure that both inoculations come from to the same pharmaceutical company ”, indicates a statement of the Presidency of the Republic, regarding the donated vaccines.
The arrival took place on a charter flight from Beijing, around 5:00 pm yesterday, after making a technical stop in the city of Chicago, United States, where the fuel was refueled to continue its course to the capital. .
“This batch of vaccines against Covid-19, the largest we have received so far, will be used almost entirely so that, starting with March 24, we will proceed with the application of the second dose to citizens who have received already the first inoculation against coronavirus “, said Peña, quoted in the statement of the Presidency.
The second dose
Ministry of Public Health officials also urge the population that received the first dose of Covid vaccine not to neglect the application of the second dose of vaccine to complete the scheme, as it is the only way to guarantee immunization against the virus.
They stressed that the effectiveness of the vaccination plan depends on the application of the second dose to achieve the necessary impact.
In any center
They explained that the second dose of Covid vaccine can be received at a different center than where it was first received and that it aims to provide facilities and that people do not neglect the application of the second dose.
This issue was addressed by the Deputy Minister of Collective Health, Ivelisse Acosta, who said that the second dose of vaccine against Covid-19, scheduled to start being applied starting next week, does not necessarily have to be received in the same position. the vaccination in which it was first applied.
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Facilities for the second dose
“If a person is inside and needs to be vaccinated that day, he will not stop doing so because he is not near the center where the first one was applied, he can go to the center that is close to them or he can see that fewer people in a row, it is important that he receives the second dose “, explained Dr. Ivelisse Acosta, Deputy Minister of Collective Health from the Ministry of Health.