[3] The infected individuals belonged to the 29-59 age group and had each recently travelled abroad.

The move freed US$50 million for a period of 180 days to purchase goods and services to combat COVID-19.

[8] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.

The vaccination plan against COVID-19 in Panama consists of four phases: (1) includes health workers frontline workers, adults over 60 years of age, people over 16 years of age with a disability, (2) people over 60 years of age and the population between 16 and 59 years old with chronic diseases, teachers and administrators from schools and universities, kindergarten staff, (3) population of the regions and areas of difficult access, drivers of public transport and cargo and airport, customs and immigration personnel, (4) people aged 16 to 59 years without chronic diseases.

In spite of intact diplomatic ties with China, Panama has turned down deals to contract Chinese vaccines while other Latin American countries rely on deals and donations of the Chinese immunizer.