The Venezuelan National Academy of Medicine reiterated that Cuba does not have “real vaccines” against the coronavirus

The Venezuelan National Academy of Medicine reiterated its alert on Wednesday that the COVID-19 vaccines being developed in Cuba “are not real vaccines”, “but rather experimental products whose composition, l ‘safety and efficacy are not known’.

The entity warned of the lack of reliable information on the possible inoculant after dictator Nicolás Maduro announced that in Venezuela 2 million doses of Abdalá, one of the Cuban candidates against the disease, would be produced per month.

“We signed an agreement to produce in our laboratories (…) 2 million vaccines per month of the Abdalá vaccine, already there for the month of August, September, approximately”, said the Chavist dictator. At the end of March, he said his regime intended to be able to start administering the vaccine in July despite the fact that the trials – part of which are under development in Venezuela – have not been completed or approved.

He also assured that the country will sign agreements with China, Russia and “other countries” to produce other vaccines against COVID-19.

In this regard, the Academy pointed out that “There is an urgent need for a national COVID-19 vaccination plan that will serve as a fundamental support for all the initiatives necessary to ensure the vaccination of approximately 15 million Venezuelans.”

So far, Venezuela has acquired 250,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik-V and 500,000 Chinese Sinopharm, according to information provided by the Chavista regime, which has barely provided data in this regard, as well. it is not known how many of them were inoculated or to whom.

Units received so far only enough to give two doses at 1.3% of the nearly 30 million inhabitants of the country. The regime’s Minister of Health, Carlos Alvarado, vaccination is progressing rapidly, which does not correspond to the real figures.

In contrast, the regime announced on Sunday that it was able to release funds, which claimed the United States had “kidnapped” due to international sanctions, to acquire 11,374,400 vaccines from the Covax mechanism, although the regime rejects the formula of the British Laboratory AstraZeneca, which the system initially attributed to Venezuela.

For the Academy, “This is a step in the right direction”, but they feel that “it is not enough”, therefore, in his view, the “national claim” for vaccines “must continue until every eligible Venezuelan is vaccinated.”

They also announced that the announcement had been made “without the knowledge of the National Technical Council for Access to Covax”, composed of the Ministry of Health, opponents, representatives of the National Academy of Medicine and scientific societies, with the support of the Pan American Health Organization and Unicef.

In this regard, they also ask to correct the doubts that this announcement has aroused, the first of which is the lack of information “on which vaccine will be purchased or when it will arrive in Venezuela”.

The Abdala vaccine is still in the testing phase and, according to Maduro, the studies “are going very well”. Last Thursday, the Venezuelan vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, has confirmed that it will be produced in a state laboratory in Caracas.

The Venezuelan dictatorship has said it hopes to be able to vaccinate 70% of the population against covid-19 this year with vaccines from Russia, China, Cuba and the Covax mechanism, which is coordinated by the World Health Organization. (WHO).

Despite the slowness of the vaccination campaign that the Chavist authorities are developing, this Tuesday Maduro’s dictatorship rejected the vaccination plan proposed a few days ago by Fedecámaras, the main organization of enterprise unions in Venezuela.

Jorge rodriguez, president of the Chavist National Assembly, ruled out the possibility of building a vaccination plan with the participation of all sectors of the country.

“The only entity authorized, trained and legitimized to comply with the COVID vaccination is the Ministry of Health,” the Chavista official warned.

Rodríguez said the national immunization plan was prepared by “the only authority Venezuela has”: “The only legal and legitimate health authority Venezuela has is the Ministry of Health of the government of Nicolás Maduro. This plan has already been drawn up and brought to this technical table ”.

The dictatorship spokesman’s statement comes two days after Maduro attacked Fedecámaras, describing him as a “nest of vipers that lends itself to conspiracy plans”.

At the end of March, the organization that brings together the main private companies of the Caribbean country proposed a plan to vaccinate three million Venezuelans in four and a half months. Its implementation would require six million doses and a hundred private clinics.

Faced with this situation that Venezuela is going through, Juan Guaidó reiterated on Wednesday his willingness to seek resources and help pay for the Covax mechanism for vaccination against covid-19, whose government has already canceled an advance of more than 50%, according to the executive.

“If they have already put half of it, I ratify, more precisely still, the National Assembly (the body which ensures that it presides, despite the fact that its mandate expired last January and passed into the hands of Chavism) is willing not only to place the other half but, at the same time, Covax’s 2022, at the same time, ”Guaidó said at a press conference.

The opposition leader, who is recognized by several countries – including the United States – as interim president of Venezuela after his proclamation in 2019, also noted that resources could be used to “strengthen the cold chain to protect” vaccines. “We are ready to continue to seek help from our allies to be able to get the vaccine into Venezuela early,” he said after insisting that the regime was late in paying for the mechanism due to “arrogance”.

With information from EFE

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