Argentina set to receive 400,000 AstraZeneca shots from Spain

Argentina will take delivery of around 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines on Sunday, thanks to a donation from the Spanish government.

The shipment, due to arrive at Ezeiza International Airport tomorrow, forms part of a total 7.5 million doses donated by Spain to other Ibero-American countries via the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Covax scheme.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that the shots would be used to complete the vaccination schedules for those who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca.

The government is also set up to receive a further 768,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine on Saturday.

If both deliveries arrive, Argentina would then exceed 47.5 million doses for its vaccination campaign, which began in December 2020. 

In the first half of the year, the authorities prioritised giving the highest number of people their first jab. Now, after a delay in acquiring Russia’s Sputnik V shot, the government is seeking to accelerate applications of second doses.

As of Friday morning, 27.02 million people in the country had received at least their first dose (60.4 percent of Argentina’s 45-million population), of which 11.2 million (24.8 percent) have completed their vaccination plan.

So far, close to 42.81 million doses – made up of Sputnik V, Covishield, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Moderna – have been distributed to regional governments across the country. 

Latest figures

The Health Ministry reported 8,160 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, lifting the total number of infections to 5,124,963. Officials also confirmed 229 fatalities over the last 24 hours, lifting the death toll to 110,070. Intensive care units are at 48.8 percent occupancy nationwide, dropping to 48.1 percent in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (AMBA), according to government data.

– TIMES/AFP