Despite the harsh economic sanctions and commercial blockade against Venezuela imposed by the US and supported by the EU, the government of President Nicolás Maduro is making every possible effort to secure anti-COVID-19 vaccines

The Palestinian Authority claims that Israel has refused to allow the delivery of 2,000 vaccine doses intended for health workers deployed in COVID-19-related emergency services in Gaza

Bolivia hopes to vaccinate up to 20% of its population in the first quarter of this year. The health ministry has endorsed Russia’s Sputnik V and China’s CoronaVac vaccines against COVID-19

On December 24, the South American nation received the first 300,000 doses out of a total order of over 10 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. In the first round it has prioritized the health workers for the administration of the vaccine.

Both Russia’s Sputnik V and the UK’s Pfizer-BioNTech-produced vaccines are reported to be more than 95% effective in their final trials

The extension comes as the country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, with Maduro securing 10 million Sputnik V vaccine doses.

Dr. Satyajit Rath talks to Peoples Dispatch about the recent announcement made by Russian president Vladimir Putin declaring that the country has developed a vaccine for COVID-19.