Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Minister of Health of Argentina, Ginés González García, Resigned at the behest of President Alberto Fernandez, after it was revealed that close circles of his had been vaccinated against covid-19 in his office, without having to ask for a turn like the other Argentines.
“In response to his express request, I present my resignation from the post of Minister of Health,” González García wrote this Friday in a letter addressed to the president.
In her place was appointed the current secretary of access to health, Carla Vizzotti, a 48-year-old internal medicine specialist, who will take the oath of office on Saturday afternoon, the presidency announced.
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Vizzoti stood out for getting the Russian Sputnik V vaccine for Argentina, the first country in America to approve and use it. González García, 75 years old and who had already been at the head of this portfolio during the government of Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), took over in December 2019 and had to manage the entire coronavirus pandemic.
His management, with ups and downs, was definitely clouded by “privileged” vaccinations at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health, which were known the same day that the city of Buenos Aires enabled the application for online shifts to vaccinate over-80s starting next Monday, a mechanism that collapsed almost immediately in the face of huge demand.
So far in Argentina only health personnel have been vaccinated. Vaccination for people over the age of 70 in the province of Buenos Aires began recently on Wednesday.
“Immorality”
The scandal erupted after journalist Horace Verbitsky told the radio on Friday that, thanks to his long friendship with the minister, he was able to vaccinate in his office.
“I decided to get vaccinated. I started figuring out where to do it. I called my old friend, Ginés González García, whom I have known for a long time before he became a minister,” said Verbitsky, 71.
The scandal provoked a cascade of reactions on social media under the hashtag #vacunasvip. In addition to Verbitsky, other people close to the government were vaccinated at the Ministry of Health, according to local press.
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González García emphasized in his resignation letter that “vaccinated people belong to the groups included in the target population of the current campaign”, in reference to those over 70 years of age.
In addition to his work as a journalist, Verbitsky also chairs the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), dedicated to human rights.
Roberto Navarro, owner of Destapi Ràdio, the station where Verbitsky revealed his vaccination, announced that he had canceled his collaborations. “It is immoral to have VIP vaccinated with 50,000 dead. It is immoral who authorized it and who was vaccinated,” Navarro wrote on Twitter.
CELS employees also repudiated the fact. “We received the news that the president of our organization was vaccinated outside the established system, through a chain of favors and in a personal capacity (…) The team of workers of the CELS rejects this or any other action or privilege, ”they posted on Twitter.
the vaccination began in late December with Sputnik V, from Russian laboratory Gamaleya, but the process progresses much more slowly than initially planned, due to the scarcity of dose.
President Fernandez and Vice President Cristina Kirchner were among the first to receive the vaccine. Both over the age of 60 did so in front of the cameras to convey confidence in the vaccine.
So far, Argentina has received 1,220,000 doses of Sputnik V and 580,000 from Covishield, from the Indian Serum Institute, the latest arrivals on Wednesday.
The plan later includes Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccines, to complete this year 62 million doses of different contracts, including one with the international cooperation mechanism COVAX.