<p>SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said Monday he will donate coronavirus vaccines to seven towns in Honduras even though his own country’s vaccination effort is still struggling. </p>
<p>El Salvador has administered about 1.25 million shots, not nearly enough for the country’s 6.5 million people. </p>
<p>But Bukele was apparently touched by appeals made by the mayors of seven towns in neighboring Honduras who asked El Salvador for help, claiming their own government has abandoned them. </p>
<p>Bukele said that because more shipments of vaccines were due to arrive soon, the donations would not affect El Salvador’s vaccination drive. </p>
<p>“The scheduled vaccine shipments we will receive leave us enough room to donate some,” Bukele wrote in his Twitter account.</p>
<p>Bukele has been known for staking out populist or self-aggrandizing positions in the past. </p>
<p>Health Minister Francisco Alabí is to meet with the Honduran mayors Tuesday. It is unclear how many doses the donation would include.</p>
<p>The mayor of San José Colinas in Honduras, Amable de Jesús Hernández, said in a video posted by the mayors that “our people are dying of COVID, our government isn’t helping us, and that is why we are appealing to you.”</p>
<p>El Salvador has suffered 2,305 deaths from COVID-19.</p>
