⁍ Colombia is set to surpass 1 million infections on Saturday, becoming the eighth country globally to do so.

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⁍ As scientists race to find a coronavirus inoculation, Colombia says it is ready to distribute any vaccine which proves effective.

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⁍ Its preparedness is thanks to decades of work on a free government immunization program which offers 21 vaccines to everyone in the South American nation.

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– Colombia has recorded more than a million cases of coronavirus, making it the eighth country in the world to have had an outbreak of the virus, Reuters reports. The death toll is currently more than 30,000, and health officials say they are prepared for an outbreak of the virus that has no known link to human-to-human transmission. “We have a really strong vaccination program that serves as a model and which will incorporate the new formula that will arrive against COVID,” the health ministry’s secretary general says. Colombia, which has a free vaccine program for everyone, plans to spend $78 million making sure 10 million people are vaccinated against the virus. But it will be tough to reach remote areas, as with other vaccines, and refrigeration could be a problem. “The great novelty could be in the challenge that may be created by vaccines which demand refrigeration below -60, -70 degrees (Celsius),” the health official says. “The country could mount refrigeration sites in major cities to guarantee access for as many people as possible, he says, and expects manufacturers to share information about transportation. The country warehouse can hold about 50 million vaccine doses, the secretary general says, and is regularly at about 50% capacity. But there will be challenges—some old, some new. reaching remote populations in Colombia’s mountains and jungles will be as difficult as with other immunizations. “It’s not easy to have to navigate rivers and then walk or have to go with animals, on horseback,” the official says.