NEW SHIPMENTS TAKE ARGENTINA PAST 67 MILLION DOSES

Argentina will surpass 67 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines this weekend, with more than three million shots from the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm set to arrive in three shipments.

After a slow start, the government’s mass vaccination campaign against Covid-19 has picked up considerably. As of Friday morning, more than 50 million shots have been given to citizens and foreign residents.

Three new flights, carrying more than three million Sinopharm doses, were set to arrive this weekend, according to officials. On Friday 7.10pm local time, “a flight will arrive with 1,440,000 doses, while on Saturday another two shipments will be added, with 1,440,000 and 192,000 units respectively,” the Health Ministry said in a statement, confirming that the larger deliveries are being handled by state carrier Aerolíneas Argentina.

The Alberto Fernández administration also welcomed a donation of 842,400 doses of the Astrazeneca-oxford University vaccine on Thursday. That shipment forms part of a total 7.5 million doses that the Spanish government has agreed to donate to Iberoamerican countries under the framework of the World Health Organisation’s Covax scheme, which aims to ensure global and equitable access to life-saving vaccines.

Argentina took delivery of an initial shipment of some 400,000 doses from Madrid last month.

According to the Health Ministry, more than 64 million doses have currently been acquired by the government of various vaccines.

Of those, more than 25.7 million are Sinopharm, followed by 14.2 million doses of Russian-made Sputnik V and 2.9 million shots of Sputnik V part-manufactured in Argentina by Laboratorios Richmond. Argentina has also taken delivery of more than 16.9 million doses of the Astrazeneca shot in its various forms and has 3.5 million doses of the Moderna jab donated by the US government. In addition, there are 400,000 Cansino shots and 420,000 from Pfizer, with more of the latter set to arrive before the end of the year.

According to the government’s Public Vaccination Monitor, as of Friday morning, more than 55 million doses had been distributed throughout the country, with mor et han 50.3 mill ion applied. Around 46 percent of the population vaccinated with two doses and 64.8 percent having received both, according to official data.

So far, vaccination has been extended to those over 18 years of age and children and youths with risk factors. Starting October, the programme will be extended to all adolescents from 12.

Argentina has recorded more than 5.4 million confirmed cases and 114,000 fatalities from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.