La Paz, February 26: Bolivia launched the largest vaccination campaign in its history in the eastern city of Santa Cruz to vaccinate residents with the Covid-19 vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm.
Bolivian President Luis Arce inaugurated the campaign on Thursday, accompanied by government officials and representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Bolivia, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.
People with underlying medical conditions were the first to be vaccinated.
“With this vaccine, we feel safe, so that all my colleagues with whom I dialysis three times a week can be protected,” said Monica Alejandra Cruz, first beneficiary at the National Center for Tropical Diseases in Santa Cruz.
About a hundred people from the high-risk group arrived at the vaccination center, respecting the rules of social distancing put in place by the Ministry of Health.
The ‘doses of hope’ have raised high expectations among the public that the campaign will bring the pandemic under control, as the new coronavirus spreads to different parts of the country, which has recorded 245,719 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 11,547 death due to illness.
On Wednesday, a shipment of Chinese vaccines arrived in the Latin American country from Beijing. Part of the cargo remained in Santa Cruz and the rest was distributed to other departments to continue the vaccination campaign.
According to the government’s plan, the campaign will first immunize healthcare workers and people over 60, as well as those with underlying health conditions.
Arce thanked China for its decisive support and called on the Bolivian public to get vaccinated to fight the pandemic.
“We are vaccinating the people who are part of the high risk group and we will gradually reach all the people who have been suffering from uncertainty and great worry for a year,” said Arce.
Warning: This story is automatically generated from the IANS service.
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