CARACAS/QUITO, Feb 3 (NNN-TELESUR) — The Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) representative in Venezuela, Paolo Balladelli, said that “between 1,425,000 and 2,409,600 doses” of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be delivered to the country by the end of February through the COVAX scheme.
“It is essential to have the support of all forces and proceed to pay until Feb 9,” the official explained via Twitter.
Nonetheless, The U.S. blockade has frozen almost all Venezuelan accounts abroad as cut relationships with banking institutions, which significantly hinders the possibility of satisfying the payment obligation in such a short period.
However, President Nicolás Maduro confirmed on Monday that Venezuela will start mass vaccination in April with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and support from China and Cuba.
ECUADOR: The Secretary of Health of Quito’s municipality in Ecuador announced that 83 people are waiting for a bed in the intensive care unit (ICU) in hospitals in Quito sick with COVID-19 due to the dire hospital situation in the country.
According to official figures, January closed with a total of 37,608 new cases of infection, almost 91 percent more than in December.
In fact, January 2021 is the month with the highest number of infections in Ecuador since the pandemic began at the end of February 2020.
Epidemiologists in the region insist that there will be an increase in the number of infections, despite the measures adopted nationwide to avoid crowds, public events, and limited capacity in shopping centers, cafes, and restaurants.
Since January, several cities in Ecuador returned to contingency plans to increase capacity to attend COVID-19 patients due to increased cases and an expected further rise.
The measure coincides with the end of the State of Exception, ordered by the Ecuadorean Government, after the Constitutional Court notified the unconstitutionality of Executive Decree 1217, by which the extraordinary measure was declared, due to public calamity throughout the country. — NNN-TELESUR
