January is ending and the days are running out for Russia to complete the delivery of 5 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus that, according to the Government, Moscow has committed by contract. In February, Argentina should receive another 14.7 million doses.
In the Executive they admit that there is a delay with the delivery of the vaccines produced by the Gamaleya Center, but they are optimistic. “We are confident that the contract will be fulfilled and that this bottleneck in vaccine production will end when mass manufacturing begins in the coming weeks in India and Korea“Casa Rosada officials told Clarín.
During his visit last week, the ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli, informed the President that the neighboring country prepares to produce Sputnik V that it would be destined to Argentina and Bolivia. In the Ministry of Health they affirm that it must wait until the end of the month to assess whether Russia actually breached the contract.
According to officials with access to the contract signed between the authorities of both countries, there is no impediment for Russia to postpone the delivery of vaccines. “The contract does not say that Russia should first vaccinate its citizens”, they stated. In the first month of the year, Argentina should receive 4 million applications of the first dose and another million corresponding to the second dose.
The rescheduling of the Aerolineas Argentinas flight initially scheduled for this Sunday to look for a new shipment was postponed. During the afternoon of Tuesday, the Government announced that the flight would finally take off at night. The CEO of Aerolineas Argentinas, Pablo Ceriani, confirmed this later.
The official had suggested in statements to the press that the possibility of expand load capacity of airplanes up to 1 million doses. However, in Transportation they clarified that it had not been necessary to finally remove seats to add cargo. However, they avoided specifying how many vaccines they will bring. In the Government and in Health they planned to send one flight per week until shipments are completed and thus avoid storage in warehouses in the country.
“We will be able to have enough doses to be able to vaccinate between January and February 10 million Argentines and Argentines. Delivery times are estimated at a first batch of 600,000 doses to vaccinate 300,000 people before the end of the year, in January with enough doses for 5 million people, and in February the rest of the doses necessary to reach the vaccination of the 10 million people that we are planning ”, said President Alberto Fernández on December 10.
Logistics times could be more flexible, as recognized by the Government itself. So far, with the 600,000 doses -300,000 of the first and the same amount of the second- delivered, 266,969 people have been vaccinated so far, but only 38 thousand did so with the second dose.
In the ruling party they minimize delays in the delivery of vaccines. They are not afraid that the President’s word will lose credibility. “If we get them, it will be a resounding success for what the world is experiencing,” says one of the authorized voices in the Frente de Todos on health policy.
Along the same lines, in La Rosada they argue that Europe claims Pfizer and AstraZeneca for the alleged breach of contracts and delay in the delivery of vaccines. They also compare the scope of the vaccines committed to Argentina (which include 20 million from Sputnik V, 22.4 million from AstraZeneca-Oxford and 9 million through the WHO COVAX system) with those subscribed by other countries in the region.
“In December we could vaccinate 10 million people,” the President was excited on November 6. Then, he had to recalculate and after direct management with the Russian authorities, he got Russia to send the first 300 thousand doses on December 24. It also became a political nexus so that more Latin American presidents could negotiate with Vladimir Putin the dispatch of Sputnik V.
In silence, the Government negotiates with the chinese labs Sinopharm and Sinovac to secure more vaccinations. Meanwhile, criticism from Executive officials to the Minister of Health continues, Ginés González García.
On February 3, the Minister of Health will have a new and postponed meeting with the Deputies Health Commission, chaired by Pablo Yedlin from Tucumán. The vice president of the commission, Carmen Polledo, of the PRO, who also had access to the Sputnik V purchase contract, points out against the bad communication of the Executive.
“I don’t know how the negotiations with the other laboratories are or what Russia gave the ANMAT, which only recommends its use. There is no information from scientific journals nor is it endorsed by the WHO. By February 28 it is very difficult to have all the vaccines. For citizens to be calm, you have to give peace of mind, “he said.
Although it is not the most widespread idea in the Casa Rosada, some ministers of frequent dialogue with Vice President Cristina Kirchner point out against the opposition and the media for sow doubts around the official vaccination plan.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/in-the-government-they-justify-the-delay-of-sputnik-v-and-speak-of-a-bottleneck-in-production/
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