More number of children with covid-19 in Ecuador 1:07
(CNN Spanish) ––
Rectors of public and private universities in Ecuador this week rejected invitations they received from the Ministry of Health to personally obtain the vaccine against covid-19 or create a list of people with priority for immunization, according to reactions made public by the rectors themselves.
The Minister of Health, Juan Carlos Zevallos, confirmed this Friday that he had sent an invitation to the rectors.
But, he said that their purpose was to establish a list of names where people at risk of contagion are prioritized.
Mayors of Quito and Guayaquil ask the government of Ecuador to authorize them to import vaccines against covid-19
However, some rectors have revealed that the letter asks them to send their personal data.
As indicated, it is to enter a list of citizens who will receive the vaccine in the next stages.
This, after vaccinating "the target group with the greatest exposure."
Zevallos sent the letter on January 30 to the rectors.
"I allow myself to invite you to be a participant in this hopeful vaccination process for the country and the Ecuadorian families who will embrace each other again without fear," he wrote.
The letter was electronically signed by Zevallos.
And he concludes like this: "I await your response to include your name in the official list of the mass vaccination that will begin in the coming weeks."
advertising
CNN is seeking Minister Zevallos' response to the reaction of the university rectors, as well as an extension of the meaning of his invitation to include their names on the vaccination list.
The Assembly of the Higher Education System (Asesec), of which the authorities of some universities are part, published a letter on its Twitter account this Thursday in which it distanced itself from Zevallos' proposal.
“The character of rector does not seem relevant to us, unless they belong to the priority attention groups.
We will participate on an equal footing with the other members of our university communities, "said Asesec.
The rectors reject the offer
Some rectors also expressed their rejection on their social media accounts.
The rector of the Andean University, César Montaño, was one of them.
«I have been invited by the Minister of Public Health to participate in the next phases of the vaccination process against SARS-COV2.
I am grateful, but I cannot accept because many other people must be treated with priority.
Example: health personnel, older adults, "Montaño wrote on his Twitter account.
Galo Naranjo López, rector of the Technical University of Ambato, also spoke on Twitter.
I'm not going to accept such a gentle proposal.
Despite my condition of vulnerability, I ask you to give the vaccine that would correspond to someone from the public health services who works in the first line of direct care for patients with covid-19, "he said.
The rector of the Equinoctial Technological University, Ricardo Hidalgo Ottolenghi, indicated on his Twitter account: “The rectors said 'no thanks'.
That they vaccinate us when it corresponds ».
All these reactions take place while the medical personnel of some hospitals in Ecuador have carried out sit-ins demanding the shipment of vaccines for those who are on the front line of care for victims of covid-19.
Zevallos wrote this Friday on his Twitter account that the Pilot Vaccination Plan in Ecuador "is advancing with the planned schedule."
Since the vaccination against covid-19 in Ecuador began on January 21, the process has been colored by criticism.
As well as complaints of alleged irregularities in the administration of doses.
Controversy over vaccination in Ecuador leads to dismissal of officials and annoyance among medical personnel
Associations of doctors and nurses, assembly members, the Ombudsman's Office and other bodies request the resignation of the Minister of Health.
This under the argument that it is not giving priority to the application of the vaccine to front-line personnel in hospitals and care centers for the elderly as announced by the government.
So far 8,190 doses of the covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ecuador, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Covid-19 Pandemic Universities
