Honduras Announces Delay in the Arrival of COVID-19 Vaccines

Honduras's Health Minister Alba Flores Monday announced that the arrival of the first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines will be delayed until March.

RELATED:

New Honduran Migrant Caravan Sets off to Mexico-US Border

Due to delays in the multilateral approval of the vaccine, "the immunizer will arrive later than expected," Flores said, recalling that her country expected to receive the first doses on Feb. 15.

Previously, President Juan Orlando Hernandez announced that the country would receive 80,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine before March through the COVID-19 Global Access Fund for Vaccines (COVAX) mechanism.

However, it was not until Monday afternoon that the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the emergent use of the vaccine to facilitate its delivery to Latin American countries with fewer economic resources.

"We are undertaking rigorous procedures to ensure the distribution of safe and effective vaccines," Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) representative Piedad Huerta explained.

The first vaccines will be administered to health workers who are on the front line against COVID-19. Authorities said that these health professionals will be immunized by the end of March. 

"Honduras will have a sustained vaccination campaign," Flores vowed as she informed that 27 people died in the last 24 hours due to COVID-19, bringing the number of victims to 3,893 since the beginning of the pandemic.