Nina negron
08/04/2021 4:22 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 08/04/2021 16:22
The Sputnik V vaccine was the first
against the coronavirus to reach Argentina, in December 2020, and then to a dozen more countries in Latin America.
But eight months later, the shortage of second doses is pressing Latin American governments.
"I feel that they have let me down, which is a deception
. I have many co-workers, many neighbors, who called them to take the first dose and with the second we are waiting," Noreyda Hernández, a 66-year-old teacher, complained to AFP. , at the gates of a vaccination center in the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo.
Similar scenes are repeated in Bolivia, where older adults who go to vaccinations come across signs stating that the second dose of Sputnik
"will be postponed until further notice."
"We are already tired, we come every time to ask and it is the same answer: 'The government has to say', but
what is the government going to say when it does not know anything?
Perhaps the Ministry of Health, but it does not report something so that can reassure us, "Germán Alarcón, 70, complained to AFP in La Paz.
Vladimir Putin's government says the handover will be regularized.
Photo EFE
Unlike the other two-dose vaccines against covid 19, Sputnik V is the only one that was conceived
with "the heterogeneous booster approach"
, since it uses human adenovirus serotype 26 as the first component and serotype 5 as the second component.
That prevents the first and second components from being interchangeable
and limits the ability of governments to decide how to apply the available doses, given Russia's difficulties in offering the second immunization.
Deadlines
In most Latin American countries
it has been decided to extend the waiting period
between the first and second doses, from a minimum of 21 days to a maximum of 90 days, but even so, second component vaccines are not enough.
"I received the Sputnik vaccine on April 21 and
I am still waiting for the second dose,
" Josefina Bermúdez, 72, lamented this Wednesday in Buenos Aires, who considers it irony that her 25-year-old grandson already has the complete scheme with Sinopharm, which it is applied in a period of three weeks.
The president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei.
He canceled a contract with Sputnik.
Photo EFE
Being one of the first available in Latin America, Sputnik
was mainly aimed at health personnel and the elderly
, who constitute the population most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Due to delays, Argentina threatened in July to break the contract with Russia and Guatemala
chose to cancel the purchase of 8 million doses.
At the same time,
Argentina is developing tests to replace the second component
of Sputnik with the other vaccines it has: AstraZeneca, Sinopharm or Moderna.
The first results should be known this week.
In search of a lasting solution to its difficulties in producing a sufficient quantity of vaccines, Russia made agreements with laboratories in Argentina and Mexico
that will be in charge of dividing and packaging the doses.
"Thanks to the significant increase in vaccine production capacity, the temporary delays in the delivery of the second component - which occurred due to an increase in production -
will be completely resolved
in August," the Direct Investment Fund of Russia, which funded the development of Sputnik V.
In Argentina, the private laboratory Richmond
must supply some 3 million doses
of the second component before the end of the month, after it was announced that its first samples passed quality control.
In Mexico, the state laboratory Birmex told AFP this week that
the pilot packaging has already concluded
and expects to obtain the endorsement of the Russian laboratory within 20 days.
Birmex's production will be mainly destined for Mexico, and
could later be exported
to other countries in the region.
In total, Russia has established associations for the production of its vaccine
in 14 countries.
AFP Agency
PB
Look also
In the absence of second doses of Sputnik V, Bolivia analyzes combining vaccines
Like Argentina, Venezuela runs out of the second dose of the Sputnik V vaccine
