Photo: The China Embassy in Mexico

Photo: The China Embassy in Colombia

China-produced COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Colombia on Saturday which were warmly received by the Colombian President at the airport. China also sent vaccines to Mexico on the same day.

The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines by China's Sinovac arrived in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, at around 2:45 pm local time, and was received by the Colombian President Ivan Duque Márquez, Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez, other government officials and the Chinese Ambassador to Colombia, Lan Hu.

President Duque said that Colombia and China working together to ensure the timely arrival of vaccines made the country "happy" since they would save more lives, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Part of the batch of vaccines will be shipped to the south of the country, while the remainder will be distributed across the country, and will be offered to frontline medical workers and people over 80 years old in nursing homes, said Xinhua.

The Colombian government approved the emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine in the country in early February, and initiated mass vaccination on Wednesday, focusing on groups such as medical staff, the elderly, adult patients with chronic diseases, and teachers in elementary and middle schools.

In Mexico, workers unloaded the temperature-controlled container carrying China's COVID-19 vaccines from the plane that arrived at Mexico City International Airport on Saturday morning.

The Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Delgado and the Chinese Ambassador to Mexico Zhu Qingqiao received the vaccines at the airport.

Last week, the Mexican government announced the emergency approval of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firms Sinovac Biotech and CanSino Biologics.