Bolivia Sets up New COVID-19 Vaccine Inoculation Centers

Bolivia's Health Ministry will set up at least 17 vaccination centers in three major cities to speed up the mass immunization campaign ahead of the arrival of 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccines this week. 

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The centers will be installed in La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz to increase the average of 40,000 vaccinations per day.

"When we have a significant percentage of vaccination in these cities, we will move on to the intermediate cities and so on... We have the goal of reaching 100 percent of the vaccinable population," Bolivia's President Luis Arce said.

The South American nation will receive 1 million Sinopharm vaccines and 500,000 Sputnik V doses. The first batch will arrive on Tuesday in Cochabamba.

Arce highlighted the success of the Vaccination Pilot Plan launched in La Paz and El Alto on April 27. The plan includes alliances with public universities and other institutions to decongest hospitals and better benefit the population over 60 years old.

On Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Johns Hopkins University confirmed that Bolivia experienced a significant reduction rate in COVID-19 contagions and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. The reduction was evident nationwide, especially in those departments recording the highest mortality figures, such as Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, and Pando. 

As of Monday morning, the Andean country had confirmed 318,610 COVID-19 cases and 13,228 related deaths.