Vaccines: a new flight to Russia will leave tonight and 200 thousand doses of AstraZeneca will arrive tomorrow

In the midst of a slow vaccination plan and deeply conditioned by the shortage and drip access of COVID-19 vaccines, Tonight, a new Aerolineas Argentinas flight will depart for Russia in search of 600,000 doses of Sputnik V.

Also, tomorrow morning A KLM company aircraft will arrive in the country with 204,000 doses of AstraZeneca acquired by Argentina via the WHO Covax mechanism.

As, On Monday 24 afternoon, about 843 thousand will arrive from the United States, which is part of the first delivery of the contract signed by Argentina for 22.4 million doses.

The Minister of Health of the Nation, Carla Vizzotti, confirmed that “we are awaiting the doses of Covax which arrive tomorrow and the start of the execution of the direct contract with AstraZeneca with doses which arrive from Monday”, while ensuring that “We also have two flights from Russia this week, Sputnik V with a significant number of doses.”

Travel to russia

It is sixteenth flight that the Argentine government is sending to this country to replenish its stock and support the national vaccination plan in the midst of the strict containment which will be in effect until May 30.

As in previous operations, the vaccines produced by the Gamaleya Institute will be transported in containers of the “thermobox”At a temperature of 18 degrees below zero and with an additional refrigeration charge.

The aircraft that will be used this evening has been modified to function as a freighter and will be commanded by a crew of 20, including 10 captains and co-pilots and the rest consisting of maintenance personnel, dispatch and cabin technicians. crew.

The arrival of all these vaccines will come as part of a country hit by a second record wave of massive infections and deaths, due to the proliferation of new variants, with a health system on the verge of collapse and confined to brand new traffic restrictions. .

These will act as a sort of hinge or anteroom, which the authorities themselves have described as a sort of overhaul of the health strategy: less circulation and more vaccines.

In this sense, the head of the Ministry of Health, Carla Vizzotti, confided that with the nearly 5 million doses of Astrazeneca that will arrive in the country this month “it will be possible to measure what is the maximum capacity immunization program of Argentina. ” The plan is to spend the winter with the “target population” vaccinated.

“These are multidose vials of ten doses, with less storage difficulties, which will allow them to be distributed in a more decentralized manner according to the strategic plans of each province,” said the minister.

According to official data, the week that more doses were applied, the total was nearly 1,200,000.

In the age group of 70 to 79 years, the number of vaccinated rises to 82.6%; while among those aged 60 to 69, 70.8% were immunized with at least one dose; and in the population aged 20 to 59, 9.9%.

Since the start of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Argentina, 10,958,659 people have been vaccinated in the country. According to the latest data available in the Public vaccination monitor, the online register of the Ministry of Health which shows in real time the vaccination operation throughout Argentina, of this total, 8,638,944 correspond to the first dose, while 2,319,715 people have received both and have completed the program.

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