The government prepares a decree to allow the arrival of the Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen vaccines

The President of the Nation has a Decree of Necessity and Emergency ready to sign in the coming hours which would allow vaccines to arrive in the country of Pfizer, Modern Yes Janssen, as confirmed at Bugle important government sources.

The decree, as assured to this newspaper by two members of the team closest to the president, aims to modify the paragraphs of the law on vaccines disputed by the American laboratory Pfizer and which prevented the signing of the contract with this company for the purchase of vaccines. against the Coronavirus.

The decision began circulating in official offices after the ruling party refused to discuss in the Chamber of Deputies an opposition plan to amend that same law to unblock the signing of the contract with Pfizer, which manufactures the only vaccine approved in several countries to apply. to minors.

“Alberto got tired of going back and forth with American laboratories. This negotiation was not interrupted but I was stuck, and the president made the decision to move forward by decree, ”one of these officials told this newspaper.

This Tuesday, the presidential adviser responsible for negotiating the purchase of vaccines with foreign laboratories, Cecilia Nicolini, met for several hours at Casa Rosada the Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, and the Legal and Technical Secretary of the Presidency, Vilma ibarra.

The government’s first objective is unblock the arrival in the country of vaccines donated by the United States government. Last month, the administration of Joe biden announced that it would donate millions of Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen vaccines to various countries around the world, including Argentina, but warned that each country should be responsible for adapting its legal frameworks to make the donation possible.

This week, Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken began promoting the arrival of donations to Latin American countries on his twitter account. In addition to Mexico and Canada, whose proximity to the United States places them at the top of the list, Brazil, Paraguay, Colombia, Uruguay and Ecuador have also received vaccine shipments from Pfizer and Janssen.

Until today, in Argentina, the legal frameworks are not ready to receive these doses for various reasons. Pfizer’s vaccine is approved by the National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT), but the company refused to sign the contract with Argentina because they argue that the vaccine law that Congress approved last year could generate legal claims against the lab resulting from the application of a vaccine that was developed and tested with emergencies imposed by the pandemic.

Quickly, Pfizer opposed article 4 of Law 27,573, which allows the Government to incorporate in contracts “clauses which establish the conditions for compensation for assets concerning compensation and other pecuniary claims related to and in favor of those who participate in research and development, the manufacture, supply and supply of vaccines, with the exception of those resulting from fraudulent maneuvers, malicious behavior or negligence on the part of the aforementioned subjects ”.

According to what the director of Pfizer in Argentina, Nicolás Vaquer, told the Chamber of Deputies last month, the word “negligence”, which was not in the draft sent by the executive and which was added at the request of the Kirchnerist deputy Cecilia Moreau, has finished locking the contract which was to provide the country with nearly 13 million vaccines.

Vaquer explained at the time that the development of a normal vaccine takes between 7 and 10 years and that Pfizer “assumes the risk of speeding up the process.” “This speed demanded by the whole world has resulted in the unprecedented unusual risk of demand. For this reason, Pfizer is asking for immunity clauses and other protections. They are consistent in 116 countries where we have already signed an agreement,” Vaquer said.

In the case of Moderna and Janssen, who had very preliminary dialogues with the government, they have not yet received authorization from ANMAT. The first did not start the process and the second started the process necessary for any drug to be administered in the country.