Coronavirus

Paraguay buys 1 million vaccines from Vaxxinity

paraguay vaccine crisis
Photo: Futuristman/Shutterstock

With one of the lowest vaccination rates in South America, Paraguay is in a race against time to make progress in its immunization effort, turning now to non-approved vaccines. This week, health authorities in Asunción greenlit the purchase of 1 million UB-612 vaccine doses produced by U.S company Vaxxinity. 

The Vaxxinity immunizer has not yet been approved by U.S regulators, meaning the deal will only benefit the country in the coming months. To make matters worse, Paraguay doesn’t have its own regulatory agency, depending on decisions made by neighboring countries. 

During the week, the 7.1-million-people nation also welcomed a 540,000-dose batch backed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef). 

Improving vaccination in Paraguay is urgent: as of June 18, only 1.5 percent of the country’s population have been vaccinated.