The vaccines of the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Astrazeneca are currently the ones chosen by at least 11 Latin American countries, compared to a large group that hopes that the Covax mechanism will be put into operation and other governments that have opted for Russian Sputnik V or for the Chinese Sinovac.
The region, with more than 16.7 million infected, continues to have high levels of infection, with Brazil leading by 8.9 million cases, increasing the urgency of immunization in most of the population soon.
PIONEERS
Once the United States launched the world for vaccination, the first plane loaded with Pfizer antigens for Latin Americans arrived in Mexico on December 23, which bought 34.4 million doses.
The Mexican plan, which began a day later, is advancing slowly, as only 624,105 doses have been delivered and only 28,715 people have received the second injection needed to prevent the disease with this biologic.
The government’s goal is to inoculate all health workers before the end of January, to start with the elderly in February, and in 2022 they injected 126 million Mexicans free of charge using, in addition to Pfizer, 77.4 million doses that have negotiated with the British AstraZeneca, 35 million with the Chinese CanSino and 24 million with the Russian Sputnik V.
CHILE, COSTA RICA AND PANAMA DO THEIR WORK
Another Latin American pioneer in immunization is Chile, which also opted for Pfizer, of which, as of January 26, 56,549 people had received at least one dose and almost 10,000 both.
The country, which is in the second wave of the pandemic, expects to have 10 million doses from Pfizer, another 10 million from the Chinese company Sinovac and 6 million from Astrazeneca.
Costa Rica also received five shipments of Pfizer vaccines as of December 23, for a total of 104,325 units, of which 45,707 applied the first dose by January 25 and 2,421 for the second.
Despite a good start in the vaccination program, the pharmaceutical company has suspended deliveries due to manufacturing adjustments, but will resume them on February 15 and will comply with the agreed amount in the first quarter of the year.
Costa Rica, with 5 million inhabitants, purchased 3 million doses with Pfizer, targeting 1.5 million inhabitants, while with AstraZeneca it will inoculate 500,000 inhabitants and one million with those granted by the Covax mechanism, of the World Health Organization. Health (WHO).
For its part, Ecuador has begun a “pilot phase” on 21 January in which it will administer 8,000 vaccines to healthcare workers, the elderly and nursing home staff.
The lot is part of a first shipment of 86,000 doses negotiated with Pfizer, which will supply 2 million this year.
In addition, the Government has negotiated 5 million doses with AstraZeneca, 4 million with Covaxx and another 8 million with the Covax mechanism.
Shy, Panama began its immunization campaign on January 20 after receiving its first shipment from Pfizer with 12,840 doses, a small amount due to production problems, as 40,000 were expected.
THE GIANT THAT WALKS SLOWLY
Brazil, criticized for the late start of vaccination, has imported 2 million doses of AstraZeneca from India and has around 10 million Sinovac, figures that are insufficient to protect its 212 million inhabitants.
The controversy erupted in the country when President Jair Bolsonaro opposed the purchase of vaccines from China Sinovac in October last year and dropped his health minister, Eduareo Pazuello, who announced the deal with doses of 46 million.
Despite the fact that Bolsonaro claimed the ineffectiveness of the Chinese immunizer, the truth is that it is developed and tested in Brazil in association with the Butantan Institute, a scientific institution linked to the state of Sao Paulo, whose governor, Joao Doria, is a major rival. political policy of the President.
On the other hand, where China’s progress has resonated has been in Peru, which is preparing to unload at the end of the month the first batch of one million vaccines purchased from the Sinopharm laboratory out of a total of 38 million.
But, worryingly, the Directorate-General for Medicines, Consumables and Medicines is still awaiting authorization, as Sinopharm is expected to deliver “key documents” on the certifications and operation of its laboratory in Beijing, as indicated.
PREFERENCE FOR RUSSIANS
Another option that is gaining momentum in Latin America in this race against aggressive coronavirus is the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.
This is confirmed by Argentina, which intends to immunize 10 million people with this drug, from which on December 25 it received the first shipment of 300,000 doses with which it began to vaccinate medical staff.
Another case is that of Bolivia, which signed a contract to purchase 5.2 million doses, with a first delivery of 1.7 million in March and subsequent ones in April and May.
The first batch of 6,000 covid-19 vaccines made in Russia for Bolivia is already on its way, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
In the middle of this month, the Government signed another contract for the supply of 5 million vaccines from AstraZeneca and thus covers “100%” of the population eligible for immunization starting in April.
As expected due to the political rapprochement, the Venezuelan government Nicolás Maduro announced on December 29 an agreement with Russia for the purchase of 10 million Sputnik V with which it intends to start vaccinating its inhabitants in the first quarter.
All this amid controversy: Maduro last Tuesday rectified the claim that the drug Carvativir “100% neutralizes” covid-19 and indicated that the product made in the Caribbean is “complementary” in the fight against diseases, so for now, Venezuelans remain unprotected against the virus.
VACCINATION DOES NOT BEGIN
Colombia is also a step backwards, as the government has signed agreements with Covax to purchase 20 million doses, in addition to 10 million from Pfizer, 10 million from AstraZeneca and 9 million from Belgian Janssen, a subsidiary of the American Johnson & Johnson and whose training requires a single application, but did not receive any of them.
In the case of Uruguay, it has been announced that it will vaccinate all its medical staff in three days, with the arrival of the first 200,000 doses of the 2,000,700 it has negotiated with Pfizer, which will later be joined by 1,750,000 from Sinovac. .
On the other hand, in El Salvador there is no exact date for inoculation with 2 million doses of AstraZeneca, and in the Dominican Republic it is expected that some of the 7.9 million doses of Pfizer and 10 million AstraZeneca negotiated will be arrived in March.
CUBA AND COVAX, The Hope of the Poor
While in some Latin American countries governments go through their pockets to find money and buy vaccines, Cuba began a new phase of clinical trials of Soberana 02, the most advanced of the four candidates for immunization, on January 18. which works hand in hand with Iran.
Cuba has a well-known biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry that currently produces eight vaccines against meningitis, lung cancer and solid tumors, among others.
The island wants to vaccinate a “significant part” of its population before the end of the first half of 2021, which would open the door to other countries with limited economic resources to obtain the biological one.
The encouraging news in this regard is also related to the fact that 280 million doses of vaccines will reach Latin America this year through the Covax program, according to the GAVI Vaccine Alliance.
Although it was not specified which countries, taking into account the classification of states by the World Bank according to revenues that GAVI and WHO use to designate Covax beneficiaries, would be El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Haiti.