Colombian President Ivan Duque
BOGOTA, June 14 (NNN-Xinhua) — Colombian President Ivan Duque confirmed that he had received his first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 and said that the National Vaccination Plan is continuing its fight to immunize 35 million people in the country.
Duque thanked doctors and health personnel for helping thousands of patients who have been affected by the disease, which has caused 3,724,705 cases and left 95,192 people dead so far.
“Today more than ever, we have to be aware that the pandemic is not over and that the pandemic may come to an end once the whole planet has a herd immunity. Therefore, having the vaccine helps us prevent it,” he said.
“Today we will be reaching 13 million vaccinated people and we are going to meet our goal of closing the month of June with 17 million people vaccinated. This shows the dynamism that we are going to fulfill our goal of vaccinating 35 million Colombians in 2021,” he said.
Ministers, vice ministers, and high councilors, as well as the first lady, Maria Juliana Ruiz, were also vaccinated against COVID-19 alongside the president at the Military Hospital in Bogota.
Meanwhile, ARGENTINA reported 13,043 new COVID-19 infections and 268 more deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the accumulated totals to 4,124,190 and 85,343 respectively on Sunday.
In its daily report, the country’s health ministry also reported that 3,721,350 people have recovered from the disease, while 317,497 remain in the active stage.
Meanwhile, 16,360,449 vaccine doses against COVID-19 have been administered in the South American country to date.
So far 3,334,761 people have received two doses of vaccines, while 13,025,688 have received the first dose, according to the public vaccination monitor.
Argentina will maintain social distancing and preventive measures until June 25, with the aim of bringing the pandemic under control.
ECUADOR reported 826 cases and 28 more deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours for a total of 438,934 infections and 15,483 fatalities, the Ministry of Public Health said Sunday.
According to the ministry’s daily report, the province of Pichincha continuously registered the highest number of cases, with an incidence rate of 4,849 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while most infections are concentrated in the capital city of Quito.
Ecuador, which has more than 17 million inhabitants, is facing a rebound in infections, and hospitals keep a high occupancy of intensive care unit beds, according to health authorities.
Face-to-face classes were resumed on June 7 voluntarily, with biosafety protocols in place.
On May 31, a new vaccination program began in the country with the aim of vaccinating 9 million Ecuadorians in the first 100 days of the new administration.
According to the ministry, an average of 53,000 daily doses are being administered at more than 300 vaccination points nationwide.
The previous administration negotiated 20.3 million vaccine doses, while the new administration is in the process of acquiring another 11 million, said the ministry. — NNN-XINHUA
