BOGOTA, Colombia 

Veronica Machado became the first person to be given the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in Colombia on Wednesday.  

Machado is one of the nurses who has been caring for COVID-19 patients since the beginning of the pandemic from the intensive care unit of the Sincelejo University Hospital. 

Machado, 46, told the media she was “pleased and grateful” to be the first person to receive the vaccine and that she considered it a “historic, important and joyous day” for the country. 

She was vaccinated in front of President Ivan Duque, Health Minister Fernando Ruiz and before the eyes of Colombians who watched her on national television. 

“Today begins a new chapter, in which this pandemic is defeated. This chapter begins with mass, safe, effective and free vaccination across the country,” said Duque, who has said he does not want to be among the first people to receive the vaccine shot because he will not “cut the line.” 

This was the first of 50,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that will be dispensed in the coming weeks. Some 350,000 front-line healthcare workers will be the first to be vaccinated, followed by the population over 80 years old.

Vaccinations will begin on Thursday in capital city Bogota, as well as other large cities.

The goal is to vaccinate 1 million Colombians in the first 30 days. A block of 1.6 million vaccines are expected to arrive over the next few weeks.

Colombia will be one of the last countries in Latin America to start vaccinations.

The country records more than 2.2 million cases of coronavirus and nearly 58,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.