Nicaragua’s Voluntary Vaccination Program received a booster shot this week with more Sputnik V delivered from Russia and news of the imminent arrival of more AstraZeneca under the COVAX banner.
Sputnik V
On Wednesday the 1st of September 2021, Russia delivered 130,000 individual doses of the Sputnik V vaccine against the Covid-19 Virus, enough to provide the second dose for those who have already been vaccinated with the first.
With this latest shipment, the number of Sputnik V doses sent by Russia to Nicaragua now amounts to 436,000.
On hand when the Sputnik V was delivered was the Russian Federation Ambassador to Nicaragua, Alexander Khokholikov. He announced the plan to also supply the Sputnik Light vaccine, see Sputnik Light below.
COVAX Delivery Initiative
The government of Nicaragua also announced that hopefully this week, there will be a COVAX delivery of 333,700 doses of AstraZeneca. They are also waiting on news of the delivery dates for more doses of the Pfizer vaccine through COVAX.
UPDATE
On Friday September 4th 2021 Nicaragua received the 333,700 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from Spain through the COVAX initiative. It was received at the Augusto C. Sandino Airport by the Minister of Health, Dr. Martha Reyes, the Minister Adviser for Health issues, Dr. Sonia Castro, the Charge d’Affaires of the Spanish Embassy, Mr. Jaime Ramos Schlingmann, the PAHO / WHO representative for Nicaragua, Ana Solis Ortega Treasure and the UNICEF representative , Antero Pina.
Sputnik Light
Russian Federation Ambassador in Managua, Alexander Khokholikov used the occasion of the latest delivery of the Sputnik V vaccines to announce that in order to “Accelerate the Covid-19 vaccination process in Nicaragua, they plan to also deliver the new Sputnik Light to Managua”.
It was back in June when it was announced that production would begin “soon” on the development of Sputnik Light at the Méchnikov Latin American Institute of Biotechnology in Managua.
The Sputnik Light formula came about when studies showed that Sputnik V had an efficacy of over 80% after a few weeks of the first application which was comparable to other vaccines after two applications. Russia believes that the Sputnik Light formula in a single application form would be the solution to a rapid, mass vaccination in developing countries.
The Méchnikov laboratory is a joint venture between the Republic of Nicaragua and the Russian Federation and was initiated in 2014 (long before Covid-19 came along) to produce various vaccines for Nicaragua and the region.
MINSA
As usual, MINSA advises that hygiene measures must be maintained, especially during the upcoming national holidays. These include; hand washing, maintaining a physical distance and the wearing of masks.
