They released details on how many COVID-19 vaccines each Latin American country will receive through the Covax mechanism: Venezuela is not on the list

The program Covax, created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance to distribute antidotes against the coronavirus around the world, send 26 million vaccines to Latin American countries, mainly from AstraZeneca, between March and May.

According to the distribution list published on Tuesday by GAVI, 18 Latin American countries are among the 142 who will receive the first 237 million doses will be managed by Covax for the next three months.

Colombia, which on Monday was the first country in the region to receive a batch of these vaccines, will receive more than two million doses by May.

However, the Latin American countries that will receive the most vaccines through this program will be Brazil (9.1 million) and Mexico (5.5 million). Argentina you will receive 1.9 million doses; Peru, 1.2 million; Chile, 818,000; Ecuador756,000; Bolivia, 672,000; Paraguay, 304,000; Yes Uruguay, 148,000.

Venezuela is not on the distribution list because “the data is not very clear”, but it will have doses, said the CEO of GAVI, Seth Berkley.

Two weeks ago, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported that Venezuela had to pay an advance of $ 18 million to receive Covax vaccines.

“We are in negotiations with Covax because Venezuela should have made the payment already, but due to the difficult situation, it takes longer“, he pointed Jarbas Barbosa, Deputy Director of PAHO, WHO Regional Office, two weeks ago.

“And we ask Covax to have a flexible schedule to receive payment when available, and what maintain Venezuela as a self-financing country in the mechanismHe told reporters.

Covax, co-chaired by the WHO, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for the Promotion of Innovations for Epidemic Preparedness (Cepi), was created last June to guarantee rapid and fair access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.

Venezuela is one of 37 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that will receive anti-ovoid vaccines through Covax. But is not one of the 10 countries that will be vaccinated free of charge because of their economic situation or the size of their population, according to PAHO.

The $ 18 million that the Maduro regime did not pay

“How much do you have to pay [Venezuela]? That’s an initial advance of $ 18 million, that’s what it takes to be able to secure the vaccines”, Said 15 days ago Ciro Ugarte, Director of Health Emergencies of PAHO.

PAHO reported in early February that Venezuela reserved between 1.4 million and 2.4 million doses anticovid vaccines within the framework of Covax. But PAHO, a regional body of the WHO, warned that the Caribbean country ran the risk of losing the reserve if it did not pay the advance it suited him to be considered a self-sufficient country.

Ugarte said the number of vaccines Venezuela would receive immediately after the initial payment depends on product availability and progress in preparing for the implementation of the vaccination, which involves legal, operational, logistical and safety aspects. training of personnel and the cold chain, among others.

The objective is that these processes can be accelerated “and once the first payment is made, Venezuela will be able to receive the Covax vaccines as soon as possible and will be able to implement the vaccination according to the vaccination plan that will be approved”, a- he said.

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