A day after resigning for Vacunagate, Ecuador’s former health minister left the country

The former Minister of Health of Ecuador, Juan Carlos Zevallos, left the country on Saturday, a day after handing in his resignation to President Lenín Moreno for the “vaccinate” scandal.

As confirmed by the local newspaper Universe, his departure took place on Saturday at 6:20 a.m. on an American Airlines flight to Miami, United States.

On Saturday, the organization Acción Jurídica Popular asked the Ecuadorian public prosecutor’s office to avoid the exit the country of the former head of the Ministry of Public Health, but the request was not made effective in time.

Zevallos, a doctor and professor who took office during one of the worst times of the pandemic in Ecuador, is questioned by an alleged influence peddling, after several of his relatives, including his 87-year-old mother, were vaccinated with the first doses imported by the government.

Since January, Ecuador has received nearly 42,000 doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to immunize frontline medical staff, as well as retirement homes, according to the plan of the government, which assumed exclusively their purchase.

Zevallos, who may also be called for impeachment by the National Assembly, admitted thatAnd “several” of his relatives received the dose, sparking criticism even from medical staff.

So far the replacement for Zevallos, defended despite everything by President Moreno on Twitter.

“There are those who only see the mistakes. I respect that opinion. I I prefer to remember the Minister who accepted the difficult task of leading the country’s health in the worst health crisis Ecuador and the world are experiencing, and who, with work and sacrifice, helped save hundreds of thousands livesthe president said on Friday.

Not only did Zevallos resign. So done Xavier Solórzano, Vice-Ministry of Governance and Health Surveillance.

The country, with 17.4 million inhabitants and among the most affected in Latin America by the pandemic, it has recorded 281,169 cases (1,616 per 100,000 people) and 15,669 deaths.

The Moreno government, which will end on May 24, claims it has negotiated the purchase of 20 million doses of anticovid vaccines, including two million from Chinese Sinovac and whose acquisition was announced Thursday by the former minister.

Ecuador will also receive vaccines from the British AstraZeneca, the American manufacturer COVAXX and the Covax initiative of the World Health Organization.

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