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Ecuador receives 1.5 million Pfizer vaccines donated by Spain
Ecuador received this Wednesday 1.5 million Pfizer vaccines donated by the Government of Spain through the Covax multilateral mechanism, which represents the largest contribution of doses from the US laboratory to the country since the covid-19 pandemic began.
This is the second donation of vaccines made by the Spanish Government to Ecuador after the shipment of 101,000 doses from AstraZeneca arrived in Ecuadorian territory in the middle of last year, which makes Spain the second largest donor of vaccines against covid-19 in this country.
This was highlighted by the Spanish ambassador to Ecuador, Elena Madrazo, during the reception of the vaccines, in which the Ecuadorian Ministers of Public Health, Ximena Garzón, and Foreign Affairs, Juan Carlos Holguín, also participated.
”We have to be supportive. If there is a part of the world that lacks supply, you have to be there,” Madrazo stressed, recalling that Spain has already donated more than 50 million vaccines against covid-19 to other countries, more than half of them to Latin America. .
Today we received the donation of more than 1.5 million doses of #Pfizerwith which we will promote the successful Vaccination Plan led by @Salud_Ec and the Minister @XimenaGarzon11. Thanks to the Government of Spain, to @sanchezcastejon and to Ambassador Elena Madrazo for her solidarity. pic.twitter.com/GnGZWT5Ch3
– Juan Carlos Holguin (@juancaholguin) February 16, 2022
The Spanish ambassador highlighted the good results of the vaccination campaign in Ecuador, which currently has 88% of its population vaccinated with one dose and 83% with two injections.
“Ecuador is an example that if you want, you can. We are honored to participate in a success story,” said Madrazo. For her part, Minister Garzón explained that this supply of vaccines will be used mainly for the administration of the third dose in people over 12 years of age, since she acknowledged that they still have a long way to apply this booster dose, which currently only 20% of the population has.
???????? Spain donates one and a half million Pfizer vaccines to Ecuador.
“This Spanish donation will help us continue with the successful vaccination process that Ecuador has had,” @juancaholguin @Salud_Ec pic.twitter.com/r1uhq4AVn6
– EmbSpainEcuador (@EmbEspEcuador) February 16, 2022
The head of the Health portfolio highlighted the effectiveness of vaccines in reducing mortality from the disease during the recent wave unleashed by the omicron variant, since hospitals never collapsed nor were intensive care units (ICUs) filled. .
“We have saved millions of lives,” said Garzón after signing the agreement to receive the vaccines, valued at around 18 million euros, within the facilities of the Vaccine Bank of the Ministry of Public Health.
Likewise, Foreign Minister Holguín thanked Spain for having contributed to achieving the wide coverage of vaccination against covid-19 achieved by Ecuador, something that “a year ago was one of the most tragic challenges that this country had.”
In this sense, the representative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Óscar Barreneche, explained that, with the 1.5 Pfizer vaccines donated by Spain, there are already around six million doses received by Ecuador through the Covax mechanism and the PAHO revolving fund.
This means 16% of the more than 35 million vaccines that have arrived in Ecuador since the start of the pandemic, between those acquired by the Ecuadorian Government and those donated by other governments.
Barreneche highlighted that this donation from Spain to Ecuador also allowed more than 100 million vaccines to be distributed through Covax in the Americas.