Argentina receives first delivery of Sinopharm vaccines

A shipment of 900,000 doses of Sinovac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is unloaded from an aircraft after arriving from China at Ezeiza International Airport, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, February 25, 2021. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian

Argentina has received 904,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in its first delivery from the Chinese drug maker, the government said on Thursday, which should help the country accelerate its fledgling inoculation program.

The delivery, part of a deal for 1 million doses of the vaccine, arrived on a plane of Argentina's state carrier from Beijing late in the evening.

"Everyone is going to get their vaccine and Argentina will be able to move forward," the country's Foreign Minister Felipe Sola tweeted alongside a picture of the plane unloading.

A shipment of 900,000 doses of Sinovac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is unloaded from an aircraft after arriving from China at Ezeiza International Airport, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, February 25, 2021. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian

The Sinopharm vaccines will add to 1.22 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V Argentina has already received, as well as 580,000 doses of Covishield, manufactured by the Indian Serum Institute in conjunction with AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

Argentina's government said 96,000 remaining doses of the agreement with Sinopharm will arrive in the next few days.

The South American country has recorded over 2 million cases of COVID-19, with nearly 52,000 deaths.

A shipment of 900,000 doses of Sinovac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is unloaded from an aircraft after arriving from China at Ezeiza International Airport, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, February 25, 2021. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian

(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)