The government seeks to unlock the arrival of two million Sinopharm vaccines and new batches of Sputnik V

The last days of March and the first days of April meant a truce for the government of Alberto Fernandez. In seven days, 2015745 doses of coronavirus vaccines arrived in Argentina, which gave a breath of fresh air to the nation’s health ministry which is leading Carla Vizzotti.

But in the second week of the fourth month of the year, that hubbub turned into worry due to the lack of certainty as to when new flights might leave Ezeiza International Airport in search of serum. Especially since it coincides with the second steep wave of coronavirus infections. “We don’t know when they come“, He says TN.com.ar a high source of the Healthcare portfolio.

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This media was able to know that at that time the government sought to unblock the arrival of two million doses vaccine Sinopharm which are still outstanding by contract (the first million arrived on April 1). Ambassador to China Sabino Vaca Narvaja it is entirely dedicated to the task. At Casa Rosada, they point out that their work in this Argentine representation was key to securing the deal with the Beijing-based state lab, but they are concerned about the latest delay.

At the same time, the Ministry of Health is trying speed up the shipment of new batches of Sputnik V, on which there are no details on when they could be in the country.

In this scenario, the government assures that the Sinopharm vaccines could arrive “in the weeks to come”, while they have no dates or estimates concerning the arrival of new batches of Russian sera. According to the latest data from the Public Vaccination Monitor 6,609,996 doses have already been distributed, that is to say, 90% of the total vaccines available in the country, while already applied 4,956,023 sera, which represents the 68% of the 7,266,500 units purchased – until now – by the government.

“We do not know when they arrive, we have no forecasts,” admits a manager of this portfolio. For example, thanks to a request for access to public information, TN.com.ar was able to know that The arrival of 580 thousand doses of the CovidShield vaccine is still pending, which manufactures the Serum Institute of India, a serum made with AstraZeneca and Oxford technology.

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“To date, there is a contract signed with SERUM INSTITUTE OF INDIA PVT LTD for 580,000 doses and a rider for 580,000 additional doses is in progress,” they officially replied from this portfolio. Another health source told this media that the country has already made financial advances for these serums and that they expect the Indian authorities to comply with the agreement already signed. “There are production problems, internal pressures in countries that are delaying shipments. In India, it was decided that all AstraZeneca vaccines are used internally and they don’t want to export anything, but here there is a signed contract, ”they added.

Each dose of this vaccine has a cost of U $ S 4.10. Argentina so far paid 2,378,000 USD for the 580,000 first to arrive in February. The contract covers a total of 4,756,000 U $ S.

According to the data that this community was able to collect, the province of Buenos Aires received 357,000 vaccines this week, which could be enough to continue the vaccination plan. for 15 more days, according to estimates close to Minister Daniel Gollán. For their part in the city, they assure that in these days of the Nation they promised a new shipment, which would be enough to support the vaccination of citizens for one more week.

Until now, Argentina received and applied Sputnik V vaccines; CovidShield serums, Sinopharm doses and the 218,400 AstraZeneca units that have passed through the Covax mechanism. The Annmat has already approved the application of all this in people over 60 years old.

In Casa Rosada, they also hope that in April there will be the arrival of some 900 thousand doses of AstraZeneca vaccines which are packaged in the Liomont, Mexico laboratory. The active principle of these serums is developed in Argentina, in the biotechnology firm mAbxience. This is the largest contract the country has signed to date and amounts to 22,400,000 sera. The agreement for this important lot is U $ S 89,700,000, to which must be added 2,900,000 U $ S of additional costs, bringing the total cost of these vaccines to US $ 92,600,000.

In recent days, this vaccine has been shrouded in a blanket of doubts after a report from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in which it was suggested that thrombosis is a “rare side effect” of the vaccine. However, the Nation’s Health Ministry told TN.com.ar that so far this type of affectation has not been recorded in Argentina among those who applied the doses.

Criticism of the delay in the vaccination plan is an issue the government has already grown used to living with, but behind closed doors they do not hide their discomfort with Russia. “We were too optimistic about Sputnik V,” they say. The anger is such that a man close to Vizzotti is encouraged to say that until the government of Vladimir Putin finishes delivering the 20 million doses of the original contract, the clause which allows the country to have 10 million more will not be activated more doses. . “For now, we are not thinking of using this option, we could even lose the opportunity to bring another vaccine delivered earlier,” they admit.