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Guatemala: criticized for the purchase of Russian vaccines, the Minister of Health resigns

2021-09-14T21:25:35.510Z


Guatemalan Health Minister Amelia Flores, criticized for her management of the purchase of Russian Sputnik V vaccines against Covid-19, announced ...


The Guatemalan Minister of Health, Amelia Flores, criticized for her management of the purchase of Russian Sputnik V vaccines against Covid-19, announced Tuesday September 14 that she had resigned, citing

"personal"

reasons

.

Read also Covid-19: Sputnik V, a very political Russian vaccine

"I submitted my resignation (...) last month, however, in agreement

(with President Alejandro Giammattei)

we are waiting September 16 for it to be effective"

, declared the minister, interviewed by a Guatemalan radio station. .

“I have personal affairs that I have to deal with, which take time. That's why I'm resigning, ”

she told La Red radio station, which questioned her by phone.

The resignation of the Minister of Health comes as Guatemala faces a sharp increase in contagions by the coronavirus, with more than 5,000 new confirmed daily cases and a saturation of hospital services.

The epidemic has so far killed 12,754 people in this Central American country of nearly 17 million inhabitants.

Read alsoCovid: could Russian and Chinese vaccines be authorized in France?

Amelia Flores was appointed Minister of Health in June 2020. Her predecessor, Hugo Monroy, as well as his four deputy ministers, had been relieved of their duties by the Head of State, himself a doctor, in the midst of the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic.

The current Deputy Minister of Health for Hospitals, Francisco Coma, will replace Amelia Flores, targeted by virulent cracks due to significant delays in the delivery by Russia of Sputnik V vaccines purchased by Guatemala.

Russia was to deliver 16 million doses to Guatemala in two deliveries of eight million.

The first of these deliveries has already been paid for $ 79.6 million, but Guatemala has so far received only 1.3 million doses intended for a first injection, and 160,000 doses for vaccination booster shots.

Read alsoFaced with the Covid, is the border closure effective?

Guatemala canceled the order for the second Russian vaccine delivery at the end of July and announced that it wanted to negotiate with American pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer to compensate for the cancellation of the purchase of the 8 million doses of Sputnik V.

In addition, Guatemala has agreed with Russia on a monthly delivery schedule to receive the remainder of the first order by the end of the year.

Amelia Flores announced the arrival in the coming days of 700,000 doses of Sputnik V for vaccination booster, while acknowledging "the concern of the population" because of the delays in delivery.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-09-14

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