Colombia may participate in vaccine trials

Colombia is in discussions to join other phase three clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine, the health minister said on Tuesday, and will not reverse an end to its national quarantine.

The government said on Monday that Colombia, which has nearly 552,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and is finishing more than five months of lockdown at the end of August, would participate in trials with Johnson & Johnson.

"We are also talking with other companies about the possibility of holding clinical trials," Health Minister Fernando Ruiz told Reuters in a telephone interview. He could not name the companies because of confidentiality restrictions.

The price per vaccine dose is still uncertain, Ruiz said, but Colombia is estimating a cost of $20 and investment of some 1.5 trillion pesos ($390 million) to initially vaccinate health workers and other high-risk people.