On Monday morning, the sixth batch of 50,000 Sputnik V vaccines arrived in Venezuela from the Russian Federation.
So far, a total of 1,480,000 COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in the country to immunize the Venezuelan people, said the Minister of People’s Power for Health, Carlos Alvarado, who received this sixth batch at the Simón Bolívar International Airport, La Guaira state.
Alvarado highlighted that the number of vaccines received so far are enough to immunize over 800,000 people, and recalled that priority has been given to health workers on the front line at hospitals. With this new shipment, he said, they will manage to finally vaccinate all health workers, over 360,000 people.
Likewise, Alvarado pointed out that they sped up vaccination of people over the age of 60 with one or more associated diseases, identified on the Patria System or through the centers of the National Institute for Social Security and Assistance (INASS).
The Venezuelan health minister said that they have also prioritized security personnel exposed to COVID-19, including members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, police and civil protection officers.
“We are also including people under the age of 60 with two or more associated diseases, and prioritizing those patients suffering from chronic kidney disease, HIV or other diseases compromising the immune system,” he explained.
Venezuela participated in the last phase trials of Sputnik V, and the Bolivarian Government soon endorsed an agreement with the Russian Federation, a strategic partner in different cooperation areas, to acquire the vaccine with the highest efficacy in the world so far.