Colombia Covid-19 Vaccinations Approach 5 Million; Antioquia Coverage Tops 10%
Colombia President Ivan Duque announced April 21 that while 4 million Colombians have already received at least one shot of Covid-19 vaccine, that number will have topped 5 million by May 4, thanks to accelerating vaccination rates.
Meanwhile, Antioquia Acting Governor Luis Fernando Suarez revealed April 21 that 600,000 people in Antioquia (including metro Medellin) – 10% of its total population – have already gotten at least one shot, as 74% of the 703,000 doses provided to Antioquia through the national government’s “MiVacuna” program have been applied into arms.
Nationally, Colombia now has more than 40,000 trained and certified Covid vaccinators, with another 20,000 undergoing final training, President Duque added.
As a result, Colombia is on-track to boost vaccination capacity to 200,000 people daily, hence enabling the nation to meet its target of getting 35 million of the most-vulnerable Colombians (70% of the total population) vaccinated before year-end 2021, he said.
On the supply front, Pfizer just delivered another 550,000 doses of its vaccine to Colombia, while Sinovac will have delivered another 2 million of its vaccines by early May, he said.
In total, Colombia already has bought 67 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including 20 million through the “Covax” multinational consortium.
By pharmaceutical provider, Pfizer is providing 10 million doses (covering 5 million Colombians); AstraZeneca is providing 10 million doses (for 5 million people); Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) will deliver 9 million doses (covering 9 million people); Sinovac is providing 7.5 million doses (for 3.7 million people) and Moderna is providing 10 million doses for 5 million people, according to Colombia’s Health Ministry.
According to the Health Ministry, as of April 20, 896,839 Colombians 80 years and older had gotten at least one Covid shot (80% of that cohort), while 75% of front-line health workers (totaling 708,350 persons) likewise had gotten a shot.
One-third of Colombians 70 to 79 years old meanwhile have gotten at least one shot, while 89,360 persons 65 to 69 years old have gotten a shot to date, according to the Ministry.
In May, the national vaccination campaign extends to persons 18 to 59 years old — if they suffer medical co-morbidities, including those with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, as well as those with cancer, AIDs and other diseases, according to the Ministry.
