Honduras requested to be a priority in the distribution of COVID vaccines for Latin America
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Feb. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Honduras requested priority in the delivery of vaccines from AstraZeneca and Pfizer from the Covax program and the GAVI alliance due to the back to back impact of the COVID pandemic and the devastating effects of hurricanes Eta and Iota in late 2020.
The Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernández, addressed the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure that Honduras has access to the largest possible number of vaccines. "We want to make Honduras an example of how we can stand up from natural disasters and the pandemic," the President said.
At the meeting participated along with President Hernandez, and WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Foreign Minister, Lisandro Rosales, the Minister Coordinator of the Cabinet for Economic Reactivation, Carlos Madero, and the coordinator for the COVID emergency in Francisco Morazán province, Yolany Batres.
After the meeting, President Hernández reported that WHO Director-General reiterated his commitment to do everything possible to make Honduras the first country in Latin America to receive the vaccine donated by the Covax program in the quantities offered.
Meanwhile, the Minister Coordinator of the Cabinet for Economic Reactivation, Carlos Madero, announced that the first delivery would be arriving in the country at the end of February. This announcement took place after his participation at a high-level meeting with Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which leads COVAX procurement and deliver.
This first vaccines will target the country's health personnel, "we will begin this process with the vaccination of front-line workers, including doctors, nurses, laboratory staff and all workers at hospitals", he said.
Hernández's government designed a solid national strategy to immunize 81 percent of the population from COVID-19.
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SOURCE Government of Honduras
