Quito, June 30 (IANS) Ecuador will expand the age eligibility for its mass vaccination campaign against Covid-19 starting from July 5 to accelerate the process, Public Health Minister Ximena Garzon announced.

During a virtual press conference on Tuesday, the Minister said that from July 5 to 11, people from 49 to 55 years old will be inoculated, and starting on July 12, mass vaccination will be expanded to other age groups, reports Xinhua news agency.

This is phase 3 of the plan implemented by the new government of President Guillermo Lasso, which aims to inoculate 9 million Ecuadorians in the first 100 days of his administration.

According to the World Health Organization, the country has so far administered 3,797,663 vaccine doses.

As of Wednesday, Ecuador has registered a total of 455,743 Covid-19 cases and 21,523 deaths, according to the Health Ministry.

--IANS ksk/