Honduras to get first shipment of COVAX vaccines on Saturday, PAHO says

FILE PHOTO: Health worker Nolvin Guifarro receives a dose of the Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the Hospital Maria, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras February 25, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduras will on Saturday receive its first 48,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses via the COVAX mechanism, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.

It is the initial shipment of an expected 139,200 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine expected to arrive in the country in the coming weeks from the global COVAX facility, led by the GAVI vaccines alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote equitable access to the vaccine.

PAHO is the Americas regional office of the WHO.

Honduras in February received a donation of 5,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine from Israel.

The Central American country is eligible to receive vaccine donations from COVAX to cover 20% of its population, or about 2 million people.

COVAX agreed to increase the amount of doses sent in March after the Honduran government requested priority, citing the devastating effects of two hurricanes last year.

“PAHO and the World Health Organization ratifies its commitment to Honduras to achieve equitable access to vaccines against COVID-19 and reinforces its work with the Honduran secretary of health to support the deployment of the vaccination campaign,” PAHO representative Piedad Huerta said on a government television channel.

Honduras is scheduled to receive 424,800 doses between March and May, according to Huerta.

Honduras is expected to receive its first shipment of COVAX vaccines before other Central American countries, including Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica.

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