Panama To Receive First Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccines in January

Panama's Foreign Affairs Minister Erika Mouynes on Monday informed that the first 40,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech will arrive in the country in the second half of January. 

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During the first quarter of this year, Pfizer committed to delivering 450,000 doses, which will be applied to elderly people in nursing homes, health personnel, and other vulnerable groups.

Health Minister Ivette Berrio explained that an initial payment of US$6 million was granted to Pfizer which will deliver a total of 3 million doses.

Referring to other contracts, Mouynes noted that 5.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from different pharmaceutical companies will be purchased to inoculate nearly 3 million Panamanians in a staggered schedule.

Panama will also purchase over 1 million doses produced by British company AstraZeneca. Deals were negotiated with U.S. pharmaceutical Johnson & Johnson and with the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored-mechanism COVAX. 

On Monday, the Health Ministry reported the highest number ever of COVID-19 related deaths at 57, while total confirmed cases climbed to 256,230. 

Until January 14, a partial lockdown will be in place in Panama city and its surrounding areas where most of the COVID-19 hotspots are located.