Coronavirus

El Salvador to donate vaccines to Honduras

el salvador donations honduras
Nayib Bukele is buying himself some goodwill after power grab. Photo: Twitter/@ComunicacionSV

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced his administration will donate Covid-19 vaccines to neighboring Honduras, home to one of Latin America’s lowest vaccination rates so far — only Haiti, where not a single shot has been administered, is faring worse. 

At least seven Honduran cities will receive around 34,000 doses.

Honduras only vaccinated 57,000 people so far, corresponding to less than 0.1 percent of the population. Meanwhile, El Salvador has rolled out more than 1.25 million doses, despite having a smaller population than its neighbors. 

According to Mr. Bukele, there is “room for donations” after his administration received roughly 2 million vaccines. Since the pandemic began, the Salvadoran leader has sought to garner support from his Central American neighbors, including a healthy dose of vaccine diplomacy to buy himself some goodwill after a recent power grab.

Honduras reported that the government in San Salvador will provide support in its vaccine negotiations with China, which has good diplomatic relations with El Salvador.