Peru receives 117,000 vaccine doses from COVAX facility

ANKARA

Peru on Wednesday received the first batch of 117,000 Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine doses from the UN's COVAX facility meant to deliver vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

The arrival of the shipment was announced by the country's Health Ministry, Minsa.

"A total of 117,000 Pfizer vaccines came through the COVAX Facility initiative and 50,000 were purchased through direct negotiation," the ministry said on Twitter.

"Thanks to this initiative of the WHO and Unicef ​​we can affirm that efforts are being made in the world to distribute vaccines equitably," Health Minister Oscar Ugarte Ubilluz said.

President Francisco Sagasti, who was present at the airport, said the arrival of the first batch is "a clear sign" that during the next few weeks the Latin American country will continue working to guarantee access to vaccines for all Peruvians.

"This action demonstrates the importance of joint work and solidarity," Sagasti continued.

He noted that Peru has signed agreements to receive 48 million doses of vaccines during this year.

"We continue to negotiate with other providers to guarantee more doses to immunize the entire adult population of our country," he said.

Peru has more than 1.38 million virus cases and nearly 48,200 fatalities, according to a running tally of the US-based Johns Hopkins University.