Healthcare professionals pointed out as a mistake what was expressed by Bukele, who said he was recycling thermal boxes of measles, rubella and mumps vaccines that came in on February 3 to transport doses against Sars-CoV-2.
“It’s a ridiculous argument.” This was directly the case with Dr. Eduardo Espinoza, continental coordinator of the Latin American Association of Social Medicine (ALAMES), who stressed that, if true, that the Government has recycled and reused these MMR vaccine boxes (against rubella, measles and mumps) who received the shipment of COVID-19 on February 3, made a mistake.
President Nayib Bukele posted on Twitter that MMR vaccine boxes entered the country on February 3, adding that “the boxes are recycled and used to protect smaller boxes”, which are what the Government of the Indian Serum Institute is fighting. with drugs against COVID -19.
SEE: PAHO clarifies that the thermal box entered on February 3 with vaccines against mumps, measles and rubella
Detail of the vaccine box against COVID-19 delivered in Santa Rosa de Lima. / Photo courtesy EDH
Recycling those boxes like “is not a correct procedure at all, it never was and never will be today, because the president says to do it. Simply because it breaks the cold chain. You cannot pack this type of contents, in this case COVID-19 vaccines, if they are not in properly refrigerated containers. And this is sealed, you don’t have to open it, break the box and change (the box) “, the former deputy minister of health appreciated.
“The box is already sealed, with indications that the cold chain must be maintained, which is inviolable, otherwise the vaccine will lose its effectiveness. It’s kind of crazy, the plot sounds ridiculous. It already comes packaged and properly protected. I put it in containers that are guaranteed to keep the vaccine frozen and pack it properly. It is not a container that deteriorates and needs to be changed when they come here, but rather reaches its destination, in this case the sanitary unit where it is to be stored “, Espinoza underlined.
Bukele’s tweet confirming that he is recycling boxes of measles vaccines to transport doses of COVID-19 vaccines
“It is striking that they distribute COVID vaccines in the same boxes as MMR vaccines, when COVID vaccines are supposed to have their own boxes,” said infectious disease doctor Iván Solano Leiva, a member of the El Salvador Doctor College.
Espinoza also pointed out that, in any case, it is not medically correct to reuse these boxes for MMR vaccines and use them to transport COVID-19 vaccines, because “they are bio-infectious waste. They should not recycle the boxes, throw them away, destroy them, just like any other material that is biological waste, especially in hospitals ”.
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In addition, Dr. Espinoza said that it is rare for the Government to mention a direct purchase of vaccines from the Serum Institute in India, because when he served as Deputy Minister of Health in recent times, they were purchased through the World Health Organization. (WHO). ).
“All our vaccines have been guaranteed by the WHO, we have not made direct purchases. We gave the WHO money and they were responsible, as in all of Latin America, for negotiating favorable prices with vaccine manufacturers, and they guaranteed their quality until we received them. This is for all vaccines, including MME. The MMR vaccine produced in Europe, the United States, India or China could come and there is a quality guarantee issued by the WHO “, described Dr. Espinoza.
As a former health official, Espinoza regretted that “20 months after he was in government, there is no national health policy, no health plan, no pandemic treatment plan and, through therefore, there is no vaccination plan. It is a chain that denotes the lack of planning and incompetence of this Government “.