Covid-19: Bolivia reports 27 deaths and investigates fake vaccination certificates

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Bolivia on Wednesday (11) reported 27 deaths and 770 new Covid-19 infections on a day in which the authorities announced an investigation into the potential sale of false vaccination certificates through social networks.

The new figures released by the Ministry of Health total 18,109 deaths and 480,229 infections since March 2020, when the first cases of the disease were detected in Bolivian territory.

The regions with the highest number of new infections were Santa Cruz, with 239, La Paz, with 147, and Cochabamba, with 138, according to official data.

Bolivia is currently noting a decline in the number of daily infections, which for several days has remained below 1,000 after a 3rd wave that began in early May and surpassed 100 deaths and over 3,000 cases in some days.

The report also states that 1,921,905 people have completed their vaccination schedule against Covid-19 in Bolivia and another 2,957,194 have been vaccinated with the first dose.

The country has had a vaccination plan in place since late January that began with frontline health care professionals and was progressively expanded by age and occupation to include people over 18 years of age and pregnant women as of the second week of July.

The program uses vaccines purchased from Chinese Sinopharm and the Russian Sputnik V, in addition to others secured through the United Nations Covax mechanism, namely Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Janssen.

On Thursday, 153,600 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines donated by Sweden and delivered through the Covax mechanism are expected.

Deputy Minister for the Defense of User and Consumer Rights Jorge Silva reported on Wednesday that his office is investigating complaints about the alleged sale of forged vaccination certificates against Covid-19 through social networks.

Silva’s office received a dozen complaints about the offer of these certificates allegedly sold in the city of El Alto, neighboring La Paz, as well as in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, at prices ranging from US$11 to US$14.

The Deputy Minister assured that he is gathering information to hand over to the Bolivian police to investigate if these reports are true and to find those responsible.