Covid-19: Bolivia reports 286 infections and 5 deaths (September 20)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday (21) Bolivia reported 286 new cases and 5 deaths due to Covid-19, bringing the total number of infections to 497,386 and of deaths to 18,664 since March last year, when the disease was first detected in Bolivian territory.

The regions with the highest number of new cases were Santa Cruz, with 154, and Cochabamba, with 65, while the Amazonian department of Beni did not report any cases and figures in the remaining 6 departments ranged between 2 and 22, according to the official report.

It was also reported that 1,525 suspected infections are being monitored through a toll-free telephone line set up by the government to assist Covid-19-related issues.

There are currently 26,325 active cases, while the cumulative number of recovered patients stands at 452,397, according to the report. The country has been in a downward trend in cases for the past 14 weeks after experiencing a 3rd wave in late May, with daily records of deaths and infections.

So far, 3,083,818 people have completed their vaccination schedule against Covid-19 in Bolivia and another 3,359,330 received the first dose, according to the same source.

Bolivia implemented a vaccination plan in late January that began with front-line health personnel and was progressively extended to include people over 18 years of age and pregnant women from the second week of July.

The program employs the Chinese Sinopharm and Russian Sputnik V vaccines purchased by the national government, in addition to others donated to the country through the United Nations Covax mechanism, including Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech and Janssen.

The delivery of 680,900 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to the Bolivian government, which landed in the country over the weekend donated by Spain and France through the Covax mechanism, was officially announced yesterday.

In a ceremony at the Ministry of Health, the minutes of delivery and receipt of these drugs were signed in the presence of the head of the Ministry Jeyson Auza, in addition to the Spanish ambassador Francisco Javier Gassó Matoses, the representatives of the Government of France, and of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and UNICEF in Bolivia.

Of the total number of vaccines received, 583,100 doses were donated by Spain and 97,800 by France, PAHO said in a press release.

Auza detailed that so far Bolivia received a first batch of 228,000 vaccines, a second of 92,430, a third of 100,620, and a fourth of 1,008,000 Janssen vaccines donated by the United States, as well as another of 153,600 prior to the one received over the weekend, totaling 2,263,550 vaccines through the Covax mechanism.

The Bolivian government also assured that the country now has “enough doses to immunize 100%” of its population of vaccine-eligible age, estimated at 7.5 million people.