Bogotá, January 21, 2021. The Minister of Health and Social Protection, Fernando Ruiz, recapped the announcement made yesterday by President Iván Duque that Colombia will be among the group of countries to receive the Pfizer pharmaceutical biologic agents as part of the COVAX mechanism, because the national territory already has all the logistics prepared for the national immunization process.
"We know that PAHO has issued special requirements for distribution in deep freezing and our country is within the 14 in the American continent that has complied with all," he explained, adding that the COVAX mechanism has commitments for vaccine acquisition with other pharmaceutical companies and thus will expand the offer to the different territories.
Ruiz noted that, although it will be a reduced distribution since the mechanism seeks to allocate the vaccines among the different member nations equitably, Colombia will have them the first week of February.
"President Duque spoke with the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and it was fully confirmed that we will receive them in the next few days," he said.
Preparedness
Regarding the preparation process, the head of the health ministry confirmed that two places of ultra-cold freezers have already been established to hold the vaccines of the pharmaceutical company, which comply with the stipulations of a cold chain of -75 °C and that, in a period of two weeks, when they arrive, devices will be installed in some main cities of the country. "44 more pieces of equipment are on the way," he added.
Minister Ruiz said that the timeline of the National Covid-19 Vaccination Plan is expected to be fully achieved, so he urged the general public, territorial entities, EPSs and IPSs to comply with the stipulations in order to complete the inoculation of 34 million Colombians.
Other agreements
Likewise, Ruiz made it clear that the biological agents that the country will receive as a result of the bilateral agreement with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer are continuing their course to begin administration to the population in February; and in April, vaccines from an agreement with AstraZeneca will arrive.
"Even with the delays by Pfizer in the delivery of vaccines in some countries of the European continent, plus Chile and Mexico, the agreement with our country will continue to be implemented, as arranged, starting in February," he explained.
He also highlighted that, although there are different projects for vaccine procurement in later stages, the vast majority of governments are purchasing shots from Pfizer, which has its manufacturing center in Belgium and is in the process of expansion in order to increase production capacity.
With respect to the decree governing the Plan, the minister reported that it is still in the process of amending as a result of the "extensive participation" by the different actors of the system and the general population who sent their observations when it was published for public consultation.
Finally, Minister Ruiz referred to ICU availability in some places, considering that main cities such as Bogotá and Medellín have been affected by this new peak in infections, due to public relaxation of measures in December. Regarding the occupation of ICU beds and the hospital situation in these regions, he stated that "although the situation is critical, the contingency is stable and there is room for maneuver on the part of the local authorities."
