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Ecuador’s National Assembly has demanded that President Lenn Moreno dismiss Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos for his handling of the covid-19 vaccination plan.
Unanimously (121 votes for and 4 abstentions), the parliament approved on Tuesday a draft resolution calling for the departure of Zevallos, after its publication relatives of the minister had been vaccinated against the coronavirus this weekend.
Ecuador has so far received 8,000 of the 86,000 doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines who, according to the health ministry, will arrive in the country before the end of February.
They will enable 43,000 people to be vaccinated, since each patient requires two doses.
Ecuadorian vaccination plan started in the past January the 21st, and the Ministry of Health, they said front-line medical staff, elderly people in geriatric centers and their caregivers should be vaccinated first.
But controversy around Zevallos erupted when it was reported that relatives of the minister, residing in an exclusive private center for the elderly in Quito, had been vaccinated this weekend with doses from the Pablo Arturo Surez Hospital, a public institution for the care of patients with covid-19.
The minister admitted to the newspaper El Comercio that in the private geriatric center where the vaccines were taken there are “various relatives” of you.
Local media Pichincha Universal reported that among these relatives is the official’s mother.
Zevallos, epidemiologist specialist, I took office on March 21, shortly after the start of the pandemic in Ecuador and in the midst of the crisis due to the spillover of infections and deaths in Guayaquil.
Ecuador reported 242,146 cumulative cases and 14,668 deaths from covid-19 on Tuesday.
Defend
Speaking to the National Assembly’s Health Committee, Zevallos defended his decision taking vaccines to a private center, instead of prioritizing public vaccines.
He said the drug is inoculated regardless of what type of place it is.
In statements, El Comercio noted that “everyone has the right” to access the vaccine.
However, associations of doctors and nurses, the Mediator and other bodies joined in criticism from the assemblies and called for the resignation of Zevallos for his management of the vaccination plan.
Several legislators also seek political prosecution to the minister.
Zevallos had previously been criticized for the covid vaccination plan after Ecuadorian Social Security Institute board chairman Jorge Wated reported that social security administrative staff received the vaccine without be one of the front line workers.
Wated said those officials were fired and announced an investigation into how the vaccine lists were drawn up.
Mediator Freddy Carrin called on President Lenn Moreno to resign Minister Zevallos for lack of transparency and conflict of interest in public management around the distribution and administration of covid-19 vaccines.
However, government communications secretary Caridad Vela reported from Washington, where President Moreno is visiting, that Zevallos has the support of the president and the whole cabinet.
“We all want a vaccine for our loved ones and what Ecuador needs to understand is that we will all have itYou just have to vaccinate it first, not with a preference ratio, ”he said.
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