Anger grows in Guatemala over COVID vaccine rollout, corruption

Unless Guatemala picks up its pace, experts say coronavirus vaccine doses yet to be administered will expire next month.

Guatemala City, Guatemala – Maria Zita arrived before dawn. She had her required appointment confirmation but with reports of large crowds and confusion at some Guatemala City COVID-19 vaccination sites, she wanted to make sure she got her jab. “We arrived at five o’clock in the morning,” Zita, 70, told Al Jazeera on Monday morning outside a sports complex building in the Guatemalan capital, where her son stood with her at the front of a short line before vaccinations began at 8am. Up-tempo music from a nearby outdoor aerobic dance class played as more people trickled into line. Army Health Service personnel arrived and joined civilian health workers at the site, where an official told Al Jazeera they expected to administer 300 doses that day. Zita was the first.