According to the authorities, they will allow the vaccination of second-line medical staff, who have no direct links with patients with Covid-19.
The government of El Salvador will receive a second batch of Astrazeneca vaccines against Covid-19 on Thursday, which includes 33,600 doses that will be used for health workers who do not treat patients with this disease on the front line.
President Nayib Bukele said on Twitter on Wednesday that they are part of the COVAX system, a global alliance that allows countries in the region to receive free medicine, which is led by organizations such as the Coalition for Innovation in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), Gavi and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) / World Health Organization.
“We will speed up the pace of vaccination because we will soon receive larger batches,” Bukele said.
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Under the government’s plan, the next person to be vaccinated after health workers will be National Civil Police, Armed Forces and Civil Protection personnel, authorities said.
On February 17, the government began vaccinating front-line personnel after receiving India’s first batch of antidote; There were 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that were purchased by the government directly from the Serum Institute, one of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers.
Authorities are hiding behind a confidentiality clause with the pharmaceutical company so as not to give details about the total value of the purchase.
Following the start of the vaccination process on February 17, Health Minister Franciso Alabí said that since March 3, they have administered “more than 20,000 vaccines to health workers,” which contrasts with the number of doses announced by the government. he had acquired.
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For experts in the field, the Government did not agree with the data it revealed on the vaccination plan against Covid-19 and did not give details on how it is applied, so it regrets the lack of transparency of the authorities. Of the state.
The Ministry of Health aims to vaccinate 4.5 million Salvadorans. The waiting line to be vaccinated is followed by older adults and people with chronic diseases, who are also considered to be at high risk of contracting the virus.