Ecuadorian president thanks China for helping achieve COVID-19 vaccination goal

QUITO, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Thursday thanked China for providing the South American country with COVID-19 vaccines to help his government achieve the goal of immunizing 9 million people in 100 days.

"We must especially thank China, its president, the government and the Chinese people, who understood our urgency and provided us with over 65 percent of the vaccines that we applied in the first phase of our vaccination plan," Lasso said during a celebration marking the milestone, calling the plan a "success."

"The world did not let us down," said Lasso, who has been in office since May 24. "There was solidarity, and we reached our goal at an accelerated pace."

On Sept. 1, the government reported that it had fully vaccinated 9 million people, representing 52 percent of the total population and 75 percent of those aged over 16.

According to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health, most of the vaccines administered in the country were developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, and the country's vaccination drive is also being reinforced with vaccines made by Chinese pharmaceutical firm CanSino.

Noting that Ecuador now has sufficient vaccines, Lasso said in order to fully reactivate the country, the focus will now be on herd immunity, or getting 85 percent of the total population vaccinated, which is expected to be reached by the end of the year.

During the event, Adrian Diaz, acting representative of the Pan American Health Organization in Ecuador, also recognized the successful achievement of the Ecuadorian government in meeting its vaccination goal.

As of Wednesday, Ecuador had accumulated 504,781 COVID-19 cases and 22,881 deaths.