Paraguay's Health Minister Julio Mazzoleni on Wednesday informed that the national vaccination campaign will begin in February's second half.
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"The vaccines will be distributed 48 or 72 hours after the first batch's safety verifications are completed," said Mazzoleni, who also stated that the exact date of the vaccine's arrival will be announced later.
Healthcare personnel working at the frontline and adults over 60 years old will be the first ones to be vaccinated. After them, people at high risk from 18 to 59 years old and essential services officials will receive their two doses. Finally, workers at airports and outposts, military personnel, and jail population will be vaccinated.
The Minister assured he is committed to a fair distribution of AstraZeneca´s 300.000 vaccines to avoid corruption and influence peddling.
He also affirmed that Paraguay considers getting all existing vaccines. However, the proposals made by international suppliers are unattainable so far.
The country should receive 4.2 million doses through COVAX and has also planned to purchase another 3 million vaccines from different international labs.
As of Thursday morning, Paraguay had reported 138.945 COVID-19 cases and 2.846 related deaths.