Bolivia has received three million Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines from China, the largest delivery of vaccines to arrive in Bolivia from the Asian superpower.
These vaccines will be used to immunize children ages 5 to 11.
“With this delivery a total of 3.5 million doses have been donated to Bolivia by China,” said Bolivia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Trade Benjamin Blanco on public television. “With this batch we have 12 million Sinopharm vaccines, which makes up 58% of all of the vaccines which have arrived in Bolivia. These vaccines are exclusively for people between 5 and 11 years old.”
The delivery arrived via the Cochabamba airport aboard the BOA national airline, and also includes syringes. Two deliveries will arrive next weekend with additional batches of Moderna vaccines, added Blanco.
The Andean country has received COVID-19 vaccine donations from the governments of China, Argentina and, through the COVAX program, France, Spain and the US.
To date the country has administered 9.5 million doses of Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sputnik V, and Johnson & Johnson to people above 18 years of age, according to the news agency AFP. Close to 38% of the Bolivian population is completely vaccinated.
With a population of 11.5 million, Bolivia is going through its fourth wave of the pandemic and until now has recorded 5,776,808 cases and 19,554 deaths.