As promised by Chile’s President, Sebastián Piñera, a commercial aircraft took off from Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benítez airport on Saturday afternoon carrying a donation of 100,000 AstraZeneca vaccines from the Chilean Government to Paraguay. The promise was made by the President during his visit to Asunción on September 28, the last stop on his official tour to Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay, where he was accompanied by a delegation that included Foreign Affairs Minister Andrés Allamand and Health Minister Enrique Paris.
This new batch of COVID-19 vaccines is in addition to another 20,000 doses that Chile sent to the South American country last March, which were used to vaccinate Paraguay’s health personnel with Sinovac.
Paraguay’s President, Mario Abdo honored President Piñera for this gesture with the National Order of Merit, awarding him the “Field Marshal Francisco Solano López Necklace”, the highest distinction granted by the Paraguayan Government.
“Chile was the first friendly government to lend a hand to Paraguay during the pandemic,” President Abdo stated.
Last March, the Chilean Government also assisted Ecuador with its vaccination process by sending a donation of 20,000 Sinovac vaccines.