Coronavirus

Colombia begins vaccination campaign

Colombia begins countdown to start vaccinations
Ambulance in Bogota. Photo: Daniel Andres Garzon/Shutterstock

Colombia has become the tenth country in Latin America to begin vaccinating its population against Covid-19. Nurse Verónica Luz Torres was the first to receive a vaccine. She works in the Sincelejo University Hospital, in the city of Sucre, where the immunization campaign begins.

On February 16, Colombia received a first shipment with 50,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and the government launched the first phase of immunization on Wednesday — aiming to reach 350,000 frontline health workers. President Iván Duque confirmed that 1.6 million doses will arrive “in the next 30 days.” 

Colombia’s National Immunization Plan intends to vaccinate 35 million people in 2021, or 70 percent of the population. So far, Covid-19 has infected more than 2.2 million Colombians, causing 57,949 deaths.

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