ARGENTINA HEALTH MINISTER RESIGNS AFTER REPORTS OF VIP CORONAVIRUS VACCINE ACCESS

Sat 20 February 2021:

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez asked Minister of Health Gines Gonzalez García to resign after it was reported that he offered “VIP vaccination” access to the coronavirus vaccine to a journalist without registering online like other Argentinians.

The scandal, which emerged after a veteran journalist said he had received a jab after speaking directly with the minister, threw a spotlight on wider fears in the region about corruption and access to vaccines, which are in short supply.

Journalist Horacio Verbitsky confirmed Friday that he received the Russian vaccine after speaking to his “friend” Gonzalez Garcia.

Others along with Verbitsky have reportedly been given preferential treatment in receiving the vaccine, according to reports.

Since December, Argentina has been using Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine to inoculate front-line health workers, although deliveries have lagged far behind what it initially hoped for.

The country has started inoculating some people over age 70 this week but appointments are scarce and people are supposed to follow a procedure that involves registering first.

Argentinian media have reported multiple cases of politicians and others who were not in priority groups receiving their shots.

A replacement for the Health Minister has not been confirmed but reports suggest current National Health Secretary Carla Vizzotti may be Gines Gonzalez Garcia’s replacement.

The growing scandal throws a spotlight on wider fears in the region over corruption and access to vaccines, which are in short supply.

Earlier this month, Peru’s health and foreign ministers quit and its former president was placed under criminal investigation after reports of hundreds of Peruvian officials and others receiving vaccine doses outside of clinical trials and before the national immunization program began.

As of Wednesday in Argentina, about 250,000 people had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The country of approximately 45 million people has confirmed more than two million coronavirus infections and 51,000 deaths.

The country with a population near 45 million, has registered nearly more than 2 million infections and an excess of 50,000 deaths, according to data from US-based Johns Hopkins University.