Bolivia's President Gets His First Shot of Sputnik V Vaccine

Bolivia's President Luis Arce on Monday received his first dose of COVID-19 Sputnik V vaccine.

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He was immunized at the "Hospital del Sur" based in El Alto. His vaccination responded to the national immunization schedule published by the Health Ministry, which started vaccine shots for people over 50 years old on May 13.

The Bolivian president called on the population to attend the vaccination centers as the country has expanded health center capacity and vaccine availability. 

"People must understand that they have to get vaccinated... We urge Bolivians to go to the vaccination centers because we are in a war against the pandemic, and vaccination is one of the best weapons against it", Arce stressed. 

In recent months, the Andean nation has increased its vaccine shots daily average to almost 52,000 people per day due to the installation of mass immunization points in several cities nationwide.

The COVID-19 immunization program intends to reach 7,180,428 Bolivians with at least one dose in October.

As of Saturday morning, health authorities had immunized 1,071,682 people since the start of the mass campaign in January this year.