Honduras orders 70,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

Honduras will acquire 70,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik-V vaccine against COVID-19, Foreign Minister Lisandro Rosales said on Wednesday, making it the second direct deal the Central American country has signed. The country has already ordered 1.4 million doses of the vaccine made by AstraZeneca Plc.

Rosales told local television channel HCH the country hopes to negotiate another delivery from Russia for a similar number of doses. Honduras is also expecting a 5,000 dose-donation of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccines from Israel, allocated for medical personnel. Scheduled to arrive on Thursday, it would be the first batch of vaccines to land in the country.

Israel said on Tuesday it was giving small amounts of surplus vaccines to Palestinian-run territories and several countries. So far, 166,547 people in Honduras have contracted the virus and 4,040 have died, official statistics show.

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