Ecuador: Ministry of Health raided to search VIP lists of vaccinated

Archive image.

(Credit: RODRIGO BUENDIA / AFP via Getty Images)

(CNN Spanish) ––

The Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office reported this Wednesday that it raided the facilities of the Ministry of Health in Quito, within the investigations for crimes against the public administration that it undertook for alleged irregularities in the vaccination process against covid-19.

There is a suspicion that the ministry would have vaccinated people without their corresponding.

According to what the Prosecutor's Office published on Twitter, "the versions obtained in the last hours show that there is a detailed record of the people vaccinated."

And he added that this "suggests that there is information that has been hidden and that it would be useful for the investigation."

The entity reported that the Ministry of Health has sent on three occasions a list that is considered "incomplete", without the names of the people vaccinated within a phase that did not correspond to them, and whose names have come to light by others media.

• Ecuador's Minister of Health resigns amid reports of irregularities in covid-19 vaccination

The Ministry of Health has indicated that it will collaborate with justice in the investigations it develops and where the former Minister of Health is, Juan Carlos Zevallos, who resigned in recent days from his position.

Previously, the new Minister of Health, Rodolfo Farfán, said in an interview with

Teleamazonas

that the vaccinated lists will not be made public.

As he explained, there are confidentiality issues that must be respected.

advertising

The Prosecutor's Office announced that it will practice forensic computer skills on the equipment and devices seized in the raid this Wednesday in the building.

He also pointed out that he will ask that some of the people vaccinated when they did not correspond to provide their version to the entity.

Vaccine Plan digital system has problems registering older adults

This Monday the government of Ecuador enabled the web platform planvacunarse.ec to begin phase 1 of the vaccination plan against covid-19 with the registration of people over 65 years of age.

However, the page was inconvenient and crashed.

Situation that prevented the registration.

Faced with the criticism, the Ministry of Communication issued a statement in which it indicated that intermittences were registered in the system.

Hours later reported that the records of retirees and pensioners of Social Security and people who belong to government assistance programs will be automatically.

So they will receive their vaccination appointment in their emails or cell phones.

President Lenín Moreno, during the radio link this Wednesday, apologized and said that "everyone will be vaccinated" in phase 1.

As of this Wednesday, 230,000 older adults have been registered for vaccination, according to the government.

VIP vaccination for members of the Rotary Club of Guayaquil

Last Sunday, the Rotary 4400 Club of Guayaquil published a statement on its Facebook page in which it noted that with the support of the Ministry of Health, its "vulnerable leaders" and other members of its foundations were vaccinated against covid-19.

The communiqué insisted that "they are seniors and from the health area."

In addition to personnel who work in its different foundations "of care for patients or the elderly to which our clubs provide support."

Club Rotary 4400 of Guayaquil indicated that the vaccinated people were within a calendar of the Ministry of Public Health.

This despite the fact that the official process for the elderly was opened three days later on the page authorized by the government.

The information about this vaccination, before the official process of registering older adults in the government's Vaccine Plan began, generated hundreds of criticisms on social networks.

The publications also called for the dismissal of the provincial personnel of the Ministry of Health that authorized this vaccination, which reached more than 500 adults in the Rotary Club.

Criticism for vaccinated in Ecuador

Criticism of this vaccination came even from within Rotarians.

They were extended to another branch of the Rotary Club called Latitud Cero in the city of Quito.

This development described it as an "outrageous image", "reprehensible and unacceptable", where the motto of Rotarians: "Give of yourselves before you think of yourself" has been left aside.

This Club of Quito also requested the resignation of the governor of the Rotary Club 4400 of Guayaquil.

Rotary International of Evanston, Illinois, responded to CNN in a statement saying they are aware of the reports.

And they also collect details about what happened.

The vice president of the Republic, María Alejandra Muñoz, denied having given the verbal order for vaccination in this Guayaquil club.

In addition, she emphasized that she only intervened to request the dismissal of officials who made a decision that she described as "unpresentable and shameful."

The Ecuadorian Ministry of Health has not spoken openly in this regard.

It has only proceeded to dismiss the officials who authorized the vaccination in the Rotary 4400 Club of Guayaquil.

CNN has contacted the Ministry of Health for their comments on the matter.

However, he has not gotten a response so far.

Prosecutor's Office Ministry of Health Vaccination