Within the government, there is also uncertainty over the arrival of Chinese vaccines

Aside from the doubts that have yet to be clarified as to why the government did not strike a deal with Pfizer BioNTech, there is also the lack of information on what happened to the contracts being negotiated with China.

In particular not explained why the purchase of 30 million Sinopharm vaccines was unsuccessfulof the state-owned Chinese national pharmaceutical group. As expected Bugle, this laboratory was already ready to send 1 million doses to Argentina in January. This shipment, we know, did not arrive.

In this case, just like the Pfizer vaccine, the government even went in search of 3000 volunteers to conduct phase III clinical trials of the Sinopharm Group vaccine. He did this in collaboration with the Elea laboratory, which is partly owned by Argentinian businessman Hugo Sigman.

Government sources said Bugle that the commercial contract with Sinopharm is already at the Ministry of Health ready to be signed, and that this body is delaying it for various reasons. One of them would be the disagreement over the vaccine price and delivery times. There is also the version that Health prefers to close before with other laboratories and countries with which the supply of doses is negotiated and then turn to the Chinese. What has been promised are 22.4 million doses with AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford; 20 million with the Russians for Sputnik V and 9 million with the United Nations Covax fund.

From the portfolio of Minister Ginés González García, they stressed that the first version is “absolutely false”. They say talks are open with China both to acquire the Sinopharm vaccine, the Sinovac vaccine – the one the Chileans bought – and also with CanSino, which is produced jointly by Canada and China.

The government also indicates that Chile has had faster access to Sinovac as it is a privileged partner of China, being officially a member of the initiative. A belt a road (the trade and investment agreement also known as the Silk Road), and they wonder if this is not a way to pressure Argentina to do the same. Argentina and China are strong allies, but Alberto Fernández is slow to sign his adhesion to this new Silk Road.

In the case of Sinovac, the Argentine talks had been established through Butantan, the laboratory that will produce them in Brazil. Foreign Minister Felipe Solá met his leaders in São Paulo, but negotiations did not advance.

As he could find out Bugle After consultation with Asian sources, the negotiation between Argentina and China at the state level for the Sinopharm vaccine has already been concluded.

These conversations had started with Ambassador Luis María Kreckler, a longtime diplomat who had been moved from the Argentine Embassy to Beijing.

Today the ambassador is in charge of the headquarters Sabino Vaca Narvaja -the Senate has not discussed his statement but the Chinese Foreign Ministry has already given its approval- but in Buenos Aires, they still do not close the contract. The decision is taken by the Ministry of Health, which is crossed by some inmates.

It was Deputy Minister Carla Vizzoti who negotiated with the Russians to purchase Sputnik V, the quantity of which is still insufficient for Argentine vaccination.

20 million were stipulated purchased from the Russian Investment Fund, including 5 million in January. But only 520,000 doses arrived, 10 percent. And it is not known who will be able to apply the necessary two-dose cycle.