Guatemala: More Than 2 Million COVID Vaccine Doses to Expire by the End of June; Here's Why

Millions of COVID vaccine doses will expire in Guatemala, as the country continues to face a slow rollout of the jab.

According to Al Jazeera, more than two million vaccine doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines will expire by the end of June.

Oscar Chavez, the co-founder of GT Data Laboratory think tank, said the main factor why the vaccines will be expired is the "very slow rate" of vaccination in the country.

In the Americas, Guatemala has one of the lowest inoculation rates with only 48 percent of the population receiving at least one dose. Meanwhile, only fewer than 20 percent of Guatemala's population have received three doses of vaccine against COVID.

Health Minister Francisco Coma said that they have tried to make the vaccines of different brands available to the public, but rejection among the public is imminent.

COVID vaccine misinformation was attributed to the slow rate of vaccination in Guatemala.

Al Jazeera claimed that a local evangelical church became the hotspot for COVID misinformation with the churchgoers regularly participating in mask-free marches through town.

"Unfortunately, people believe lies more than truth... Since there has been fear, then people refuse to get vaccinated," evangelical preacher Juan Manuel Ramirez said.

However, Chavez claimed that vaccine hesitancy is not the problem, but the access.

"The government has not facilitated access to the vaccine to everyone," Chavez added.

Reports noted the government of Guatemala was placed under fire for failing to develop an adequate vaccine strategy, specifically in rural areas that have less internet access and cellphone coverage.

COVID Vaccines Expires in Guatemala

It will not be the first time that COVID vaccine doses will expire in Guatemala.

In March, at least one million Sputnik V doses expired in the Central American country, due to the lack of demand, according to New York Daily News.

The expiration of the Sputnik V vaccines costed Guatemala's government at least $11 million.

Earlier this month, around 1.5 million vaccine doses of Moderna donated by the United States to Guatemala also expired, per Al Jazeera.

"This was bound to happen... A lot of people don't believe in the illness. There is a clash of cultures," Local health Department Director Gabriel Sandoval, said in October, per New York Daily News.

Guatemala COVID Situation

Since January 2020, Guatemala had 836,234 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In the same timeframe, the country recorded at least 17,400 deaths.

WHO also recorded 16,528,362 total vaccine doses administered in Guatemala.

Over six million people from the country were fully vaccinated as of date, per WHO.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written By: Joshua Summers

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