12/26/2020 8:36 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 12/26/2020 8:46 PM
This Sunday at 4 in the morning, the distribution stage of the 300 thousand Sputnik V vaccines against Covid-19 that arrived by plane on Thursday begins.
The objective: that they be distributed on Monday to begin
applying them simultaneously on Tuesday in the 24 provinces
of Argentina.
Moscow authorized its use for people
over 60 years old
and the national government anticipated the arrival of more doses for January and February.
“The idea is that when
autumn
comes
we will have the highest number of people at risk vaccinated, that is my goal.
Meanwhile, take care of ourselves and that our compatriots understand that the risk is latent and that we must avoid crowds like those of the last few days, ”said President Alberto Fernández during the announcement.
The private company Andreani, which donated the vaccine transfer service, will be responsible for making the distribution.
As
Clarín
learned
,
the trucks will begin to leave at 4 am from its Avellaneda operations plant.
First, towards the most remote destinations and, finally, to the area of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires.
Only for
Tierra del Fuego and Santa Cruz the shipment will be by plane.
The doses of the Russian vaccine, the first to arrive in the country, entered through the Ezeiza international airport on December 24 in the morning, after an 18-hour flight
from Moscow.
The largest amount will be destined to the Province of Buenos Aires.
v 1.5
How vaccines are distributed by province
Tap to explore the data
Source:
CLARÍN
Infographic:
Clarín
One of the difficulties is guaranteeing the cold chain: Sputnik V must remain at minus 18 degrees below zero.
Therefore, from there, they were transported in three “super-frozen” semi-trailers for biological products refrigerated at a temperature of between -18 ° and -30 ° to the Avellaneda plant.
They were followed by heavy police custody.
This Saturday, the operators worked in the cold room of that company headquarters to divide and label the orders in
60-liter capacity
refrigerated
cold conservators
with seutectic plates or PCM (Phase Change Material, for its acronym in English).
The Russian vaccine Sputnik V (RUSSIA DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND)
The distribution by land will have 35 destinations in the 24 provinces and 5 super-frozen semi-trailers, 5 refrigerated containers, 56 thermopallets and more than
600 cold preservatives will be used.
The company pointed out to this newspaper that the most similar operation was the one carried out during the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, when the antiviral drug Tamiflu was transferred throughout the national territory.
The Minister of Defense, Agustín Rossi, confirmed this Saturday that this first importation of vaccines will be destined
for health personnel
and pointed out that, within that group, "priority will be given to those who have more direct contact with the virus."
Regarding how the operation will continue during 2021, Rossi explained that in January and February the shipments of almost
20 million vaccines will be completed
(5 million in the first month of 2020 and 14.7 million in the next).
"With that we are going to begin the mass vaccination campaign for all Argentines," he anticipated.
At the Andreani plant in Avellaneda, the operation is being prepared to transport the Sputnik V vaccine.
Rossi added that "in addition, there is in the contract with Russia a back up of 5 million more doses that Argentina can use in the event that it is necessary. This, apart from what the Astra-Zeneca laboratory will deliver between April and March , and the Covax agreement of 9 million more doses, "he added.
The Sputnik V vaccine, which according to the Russian authorities showed an efficacy of 91.4%, generated doubts and uncertainty, after it became known that Moscow had not authorized it for people over 60 years of age.
But the Russian Health Ministry gave the green flag this Saturday for
older adults
.
Another aspect that caused doubts was the fact that there are still no scientific publications on Sputnik V. Even, being a deal that was made between states, without the mediation of a laboratory, the approval was also different, for example, from that of the Pfizer vaccine, with which the national government has not yet reached an agreement and is the one that is being applied in several European countries, and also in others in the region, such as Chile and Mexico.
The National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT), the body that authorizes the use of drugs, in the case of Sputnik V only "recommended" its use based on the fact that "the known benefits are greater than the uncertainty."
For his part, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Roberto Salvarezza, explained this Saturday that in 2021 34 million people should be vaccinated, 10 million of them until March, according to the current purchase agreements.
This Saturday, the 300 thousand doses were divided for transfer.
Photo Guillermo Rodríguez Adami
Along these lines, he listed that from Sputnik V "300 thousand doses arrived and the plan is 20 million that would be distributed between January and February."
In March, the country will have "22 million Oxford that AstraZeneca produces in Garin" and then there will be "Covax vaccines, which are 9 million doses," said the minister.
"Argentina has about 45 million inhabitants and a quarter are under 14 years of age and it would not be a priority to vaccinate them," Salvarezza said, adding that the government has "covered about 28 million" doses and continues to negotiate with other suppliers such as Pfizer.
"It was not left out," he said in relation to the latter laboratory.
Province by province
There are
297,000 doses that will be distributed in the 24
Argentine
jurisdictions
.
There will be a remnant of 3,000 "just in case", that is, back-up.
According to the detail provided by the Ministry of Health, in addition to the 146,100 doses that will remain in the Buenos Aires-Buenos Aires radius, the provinces that will receive the most doses are, logically, Santa Fe (24,100), Córdoba (21,900), Tucumán (11,500), Mendoza (11,100) and Entre Ríos (10,100).
They follow, in order from "more" to "less" doses, Salta, with 8,300;
Chaco, with 7,700;
Corrientes, with 6,700;
Santiago del Estero, with 5,900;
Missions, with 5,200;
San Juan, with 4,700;
Jujuy, with 4,600;
and Río Negro, with 4,400.
Finally, Neuquén will have 3,600 doses;
to Formosa, 3,400;
to San Luis, 3,300;
to Chubut, 3,000;
to Catamarca, 2,800;
to La Rioja, 2,600;
Santa Cruz, 2,400;
to La Pampa, 2,300;
and to Tierra del Fuego, 1,300.
Health personnel nationwide oscillates
one and a half million people
, so that in this first round
20%
will be covered
.
But it should be remembered that this Thursday only "half a vaccine" will arrive in the country: Sputnik V includes two doses (to be administered 21 days apart), whose composition is not identical.
SC
Look also
Coronavirus in Argentina: photos of the new normal imposed by the pandemic