Venezuela welcomes China vaccines and supplies

Venezuela on Monday received 17 tons of medical materials and supplies, including a batch of 500,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine from the Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm, donated by China. The shipment arrived at Simon Bolivar International Airport in La Gaia State from China at around midnight, local time.

In statements broadcast on state television, Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez said that the donation was another example of the close relationship of "friendship, brotherhood and cooperation between China and Venezuela."

Thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping on behalf of his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, Rodriguez said the donation would allow the Venezuelan government to incorporate the education sector into the vaccination schedule. Venezuela began vaccinating the health care sector as a priority on February 18, five days after the arrival of the first batch of 100,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.Venezuela has registered more than 139,500 positive cases of COVID-19 and 1,348 deaths, according to figures collated by the Johns Hopkins University.