Access to Covid-19 vaccines in Latin America will be more limited than in other parts of the world, at least initially. According to a report by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), coverage of 60-70% of the population could be delayed until mid-2022 for the major economies in the region, and past 2023 for the poorest countries. In contrast, European nations are expected to have widespread vaccination by the end of 2021.
The delays in vaccinations impact a region marked by social inequality, and controversies quickly emerged in the first weeks of immunizations in some Latin American countries, where various irregularities have been reported involving politicians, businessmen, members of the Church and public personalities, who have apparently used their power to gain early access to the scheduled doses.
The director for the Americas of Human Rights Watch, José Manuel Vivanco, criticized the countries involved in the scandals for abusing the human rights of the population. He also urged governments to establish resources to avoid injustices, because access should be “based on public health criteria, not on ideological affinities or government positions”.
Corruption in clinical trials
One of the more widely known corruption scandals is the ‘vaccinegate’ in Peru, where a group of businessmen, high-ranking officials and their relatives had access to doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccines when they were in clinical trials. The batch used was assigned to the health personnel in charge of the research.
The scandal led to the removal of 16 officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health in mid-February, and all those who were illegally vaccinated are expected to be removed from their positions in the coming days, following an investigation. For his part, Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti blamed the situation on his predecessor, Martin Vizcarra, who was removed from office at the end of 2020, and received doses of the vaccine at the same time as his wife.
Scandal and success
The successful vaccination process in Chile was overshadowed by controversies in its distribution, when it was discovered that more than 37.000 people had received the immunization early. These individuals were outside the priority groups, meaning that they did not have chronic diseases and were under 60 years of age.
According to figures handled by the Department of Health Statistics and Information, more than 17.365 of the people vaccinated are between 50 and 59 years old, 9.071 between 40 and 49 and 9.023 between 18 and 39 years old. Among them are celebrities and government officials.
No investigations have been opened in Chile yet. It is hoped that the scandal will not affect the process, which so far is the most advanced in the region (and an example to the world) with more than 2 million people vaccinated out of 18 million inhabitants.
VIP vaccination
Argentina has also been involved in scandals over the irregular vaccination of public figures and high-ranking government officials. President Alberto Fernandez removed the Minister of Health from his job, after news came to light about privileged vaccinations for friends of functionaries within the ministry’s building.
In Argentina, health workers were given priority in the month of December and in February they started with the members of the population who are over 70 years old. This means that the vaccination process with Sputnik V is still in progress with the priority populations.
Dose deviation
Brazil has been one of the countries most affected by Covid, with more than 10 million cases and more than 200 thousand deaths related to the virus. However, these figures have not kept away controversy. In Brazil, in addition to reports of early doses in non-priority populations, reports of fraudulent inoculation are being investigated.
Relatives of some elderly people have said that health workers inserted empty syringes into their relation, with some of them recording videos of the process. Police authorities are investigating, but hope that these are isolated incidents.
Political privileges
Venezuela started the first doses of vaccination during the second half of February amidst criticism for the government’s decisions on the selected groups. Among the first to receive the immunization are deputies of the Parliament, mayors, governors and other sympathizers of Nicolás Maduro.
Unlike in other countries, Maduro has not hidden his intention and justified the immunization of his political allies due to the coronavirus deaths of government officials in recent months.
Meanwhile, the vaccination of other priority populations such as the elderly has not yet been announced, which has generated controversy and criticism. Despite the controversies, it is expected that most health workers will be immunized in this first stage, since they are the ones who deal with the disease on a daily basis.
Image credit: U.S. Secretary of Defense