China to Donate 150,000 COVID-19 Vaccines to El Salvador

China's Ambassador to El Salvador Ou Jianhong Sunday confirmed that her country will donate 150,000 Sinovac vaccines to this Latin American nation.

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"China seeks to support El Salvador in its fight against the pandemic as it aims to protect the people's health," Jianhong tweeted and informed that the donation will arrive on Tuesday night.

The 150,000 doses, which are in addition to the 2 million Sinovac vaccines purchased by the Salvadoran government, will be the fifth batch of vaccines to reach the Latin American country since mid-February.

With this new shipment, health authorities plan to immunize the elderly and people with chronic diseases as of April 15.

El Salvador started its vaccination campaign on Feb. 17 with Covishield, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer vaccines amid criticism against President Nayib Bukele for his mismanagement of the pandemic.

"Bukele has used religious fundamentalism and misinformation to produce ignorance, doubt, and confusion regarding COVID-19," lawyer Herman Duarte said, adding that the president "has shown contempt for the victims as he has downplayed the COVID-19 impact for political purposes."

So far, El Salvador, which has over 6 million inhabitants, has registered 64,431 COVID-19 cases and 2,025 deaths from the disease.