Bolivian clowns get vaccinated to help promote jabs

In full costume and with smiles on their faces, clowns in La Paz were being inoculated against COVID-19 on Monday as part of a campaign aimed at encouraging young people to get their vaccination.

The colorful vaccine drive took place at the largest public university in La Paz, with long lines forming outside the center.

"The truth (is that I feel) grateful that they vaccinated us; now we can protect ourselves for our family, for all our beautiful public because we love to cheer people and we are grateful," said clown Marco Flores.

Another clown holding a huge plastic syringe urged people to get vaccinated, saying "it doesn't hurt...there's nothing to it."

Meanwhile, Bolivia dissolved its contract with India's Serum Institute over it's failure to deliver on the agreement to supply AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots.

It also announced the purchase of six million COVID-19 vaccines from Sinopharm, authorities said Monday.

The government last week announced its massive vaccination campaign for people between the ages of 18 and 30, which represent 34% of the population.

As of Monday, 28% of the population has received the first dose and 10% received the second from a population of 7.1 million, according to the Health Ministry.

Bolivia has reported 444,968 infections and 16,951 deaths linked to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.