Coronavirus vaccination campaign started in PeruBild: AFP / Luka GONZALES
–
–
–
In the fight against the corona pandemic, several countries in South America are intensifying their efforts to immunize the population. In Brazil, companies and non-governmental organizations presented a plan to accelerate the vaccination campaign on Tuesday. Peru began its first vaccinations after a delivery of the vaccine from the Chinese manufacturer Sinopharm. Argentina, meanwhile, granted emergency approval to Covishield, a vaccine made in India.
“United for vaccination” is the name of the initiative by Brazilian companies and NGOs. It consists of around 400 partners, including Bank Itau, the airline Gol and the Brazilian branches of VW and Whirlpool.
They want to improve vaccination logistics and get equipment like syringes. “We’re not going to buy vaccines. The government doesn’t need any money,” said Luiza Helena Trajano, head of retail giant Magazina Luiza, at a press conference. “But we can speed up the process thanks to our stores.”
Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in the world. More than 230,000 infected people have already died – only the USA has even more corona deaths.
Brazil’s right-wing extremist head of state Jair Bolsonaro has been criticized for his corona crisis management. The vaccinations had only started three weeks ago and at the current rate it would take more than four years, according to expert calculations, to vaccinate the entire population of 212 million people. The alliance wants to achieve this by September.
In Peru, the vaccination campaign began on Tuesday with the vaccination of staff from several hospitals in the capital, Lima. They received the Sinopharm vaccine, 300,000 doses of which had arrived in the South American country on Sunday. President Francisco Sagasti was also given an injection.
The second wave of the corona pandemic hit Peru hard. Since the beginning of the Corona crisis, around 1.2 million of the 33 million inhabitants have been infected, and more than 42,000 people have died. The hospitals are overcrowded and, as in other countries in South America, there is a shortage of oxygen to treat Covid-19 patients.
Another 700,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine are expected to arrive in Peru next Sunday. The government has reached agreements with the Chinese manufacturer to deliver 38 million cans. Another 20 million doses are to come from Biontech and Pfizer, 14 million from Astrazeneca and 13.2 million from the Covax initiative for poorer countries.
Meanwhile, Argentina granted emergency approval to Covishield, the Indian-made vaccine, on Tuesday. Covishield is basically the same vaccine as that of the British-Swedish company Astrazeneca, which is now also manufactured by the Serum Institute of India after a technology transfer. Argentina had already approved the actual Astrazeneca vaccine in December.
In Argentina, the vaccination campaign started at the end of December with the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, of which 820,000 doses have so far been received. The country with its 44 million inhabitants has recorded more than 49,000 corona deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
In neighboring Chile, the vaccination program for older people started six days ago. As of Tuesday, more than a million people had been vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health.
© 2021 AFP
–
