“354,240 expired doses have been identified,” Deputy Minister of Collective Health Eladio Perez said at a press conference.
The Dominican Republic purchased for nearly 183 million dollars: 10 million doses from AstraZeneca, 9.9 million from Pfizer as well as 2.1 million vaccines from other laboratories through the international Covax mechanism.
He also bought 15.7 million additional vaccines from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac for an amount not made public.
According to official figures, 15.2 million doses were used in this country of 10.5 million inhabitants.
About 5.8 million people (56% of the population) have received two doses and 2.2 million (21%) have received a proposed additional dose since last June.
Santo Domingo says it still has 9 million doses, most of which expire in 2023, and says it is open to donations to other countries of vaccines about to expire, Pérez said.
President Luis Abinader last week lifted all restrictions that had been imposed to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, calling the government's vaccination plan a 'success' even though the original target was to vaccinate 70% of the Dominicans.
The Dominican Republic has recorded 573,036 cases of Covid-19 and 4,363 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the official report.
The Caribbean country, with its heavenly beaches and hotel resorts, destination of millions of tourists and cruise ships from all over the world, is one of the few countries to have kept its borders open since the start of the pandemic.
Nearly 5 million travelers visited the Dominican Republic in 2021, twice as many as in 2020.
© 2022 AFP