The first 10,000 doses of a 10-million order of the Pfizer-BioNtech coronavirus vaccine reached Chile on Thursday with inoculations of health workers inthe hardest hit sectors to begin immediately, Reuters reports. Chile is the first South American country to begin vaccinating against the virus. Mexico received 3,000 doses of the vaccine on Wednesday, Costa Rica was to receive Pfizer doses on Thursday while Argentina was expecting the first doses ofRussia's Sputnik vaccine on the same day. The boxes were transferred by police helicopter to a logistics centre in the capital Santiago, with vaccinations due to begin later in the morning. Chile is among the countries in Latin America to have struck the most bilateral deals with pharmaceutical companies, including deals with AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Sinovac as well as the global vaccine distribution scheme COVAX.

Source: The Standard December 24, 2020 13:07 UTC