Claudio Andrade
05/26/2021 15:03
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 05/26/2021 3:03 PM
The Chilean government will insist, through its ambassador Nicolás Monckeberg Díaz, before the Argentine Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Health in charge of Carla Vizzotti, so that in
the shortest possible time
some
32 thousand doses of Pfizer vaccines
destined for the inhabitants of Río Turbio in Santa Cruz and Bariloche in Río Negro.
“Let's hope that the process is finally successful and the vaccines will be there in a few weeks.
It is very possible that it will be achieved
”, explained to
Clarín
, Senator Carlos Bianchi who became the figure that carries out the initiative between both countries.
For Bianchi, the key to solving the obstacles imposed by the country lies in the capacity for negotiation and the doll of trans-Andean diplomacy.
“Here what matters is
the human
, I trust that it will be the first thing to be evaluated in Argentina.
And Pfizer vaccines are already licensed, "he added.
Yesterday a document was known in which the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) rejects the Chilean offer because the batch in question
did not have vaccines authorized by that agency.
However, now the Chileans renewed the bet and indicated that the shipments would be made up
of vaccines from the Pfizer laboratory
that, if it has the corresponding sanitary endorsement, this newspaper could find out.
For Argentina to accept, Chileans now offer the Pfizer vaccine, which is authorized in the country.
Photo: AFP
Clarín
tried to contact Minister Vizzotti to consult her on the matter, although there was no response.
Senator Bianchi's initial proposal was to deliver
15,000 doses to the mining town of Río Turbio
in a kind of retribution for the years in which the inhabitants of Puerto Natales, 30 kilometers away, worked in the deposit and saved the local economy.
Shortly after, the authorities of the Regional Council of Los Lagos (CORE) joined, who in turn offered another shipment
to Bariloche in order to vaccinate some 17,000 Chileans
residing in the mountain city.
The CORE contacted the mayor of the Lake District, Carlos Geisse, who promised to make the presentation to the Chilean Foreign Ministry.
There were no major news about this process so far.
Reasons for rejection
In Chile, the head of the Trans-Andean Foreign Ministry, Andrés Allamand, explained in a statement to the president of the Senate of his country, Yasna Provoste, the reasons for the rejection by the ANMAT of the vaccines that would reach Río Turbio.
The document dates from April 22, but it transcended a few hours ago.
“I would like to inform you that our Embassy in Buenos Aires, along with reviewing the local health regulations, has contacted the director of the ANMAT of Argentina, Manuel Rodolfo Limeres, to know the position of his country regarding Pfizer vaccines and Sinovac ”, it starts.
"In this regard, the health authority reported that the aforementioned laboratories do not have, at this time, valid records for their vaccines in the country, nor have they requested the start of the process for that purpose, so there is no authorization for vaccination with such drugs. (…) The aforementioned vaccines are currently not included
in the vaccination plan approved by Argentina
, either for its nationals or foreigners residing in that country ”, he concluded.
In a dialectical game that is causing controversy in his own country, Ambassador Monckeberg Díaz clarified that it had not been a formal proposal on the part of the trans-Andean people.
In truth, as confirmed by Senator Bianchi and, according to the announcement of the CORE of Los Lagos, as soon as the idea arose, the proposal continued to the Chilean Foreign Ministry and from there to the embassy in Buenos Aires.
More than one discomfort exists in these hours about the performance of Monckeberg Díaz and some sources in Santiago, consulted by this newspaper.
They believe that he
did not "do enough"
to alert the government of Alberto Fernández.
“It is not effective that the Government has rejected the donation of vaccines.
What there has been was a good idea from Senator Bianchi with the aim that Chilean citizens and the Argentine relatives of our citizens in the southernmost areas of Argentina can receive these vaccines, this collaboration ”, the Chilean ambassador justified in the program by Maria Laura Santillán on CNN radio.
"In addition, the donation is much more complex than a simple offer from a parliamentarian.
First,
a compatibility of sanitary norms
between the two countries is required, which currently does not exist because the vaccines that are applied in Chile are not the same as in Argentina.
Second, is that the vaccination schedules of both countries are at different age and prevalence levels, "he added.
Anyway, taking into account the urgencies of the country, in Chile the officials, accustomed to carrying out summary procedures at high speed compared to those that are woven in the national political bureaucracy, have been
surprised by the lack of interest
,
Clarín
could find out
.
The Fernández government, meanwhile, waits not without nervousness for President Joe Biden of the United States to keep his word and to receive a part of the 20 million vaccines promised from his administration abroad.
"The Argentine ambassador in Washington, Jorge Argüello, began negotiations in the White House, in the State Department and with various laboratories with the specific objective of convincing the US government that Argentina should receive as many of these vaccines as possible", as this newspaper learned.
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