In the words of the official, the health strategy cost himself estimated at $ 5 million goes beyond the construction of the modules.
The vaccination plan against COVID-19 that the Government is preparing to implement and the millionaire expense for the construction of modules where the dose will be applied was again justified by the Minister of Health, Francisco Alabi this Monday during a television interview .
In the words of the official, the health strategy cost himself $ 5 million, and for which he has received criticism from the same body of doctors and nurses, “does not involve just placing a bucket,” he said. legat.
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“We are talking that there are more than 156 sites and it has not included furniture, refrigeration, cold chain, logistics process and remodeling of health units,” he clarified.
Alabi argues that vaccines cannot be “put in areas that are non-existent or deteriorated where requirements are not met and where the strategy cannot be implemented in a short time.”
Regarding the construction of vaccination modules, Alabi had already explained, during his appearance in the Legislative Assembly, before the special commission investigating the use of funds to combat the pandemic, that the cost of each s estimated at $ 32,000, for a total investment of $ 5 million.
However President Nayib Bukele, during a press conference last Saturday, contradicted Alabi in terms of cost per module as he assured that the mount was “like $ 6,000 and a bit”.
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“The price is false, it’s not even close, if we do not take into account the computers, equipment, refrigeration appliances, etc., it is worth about 6,000 and a few dollars each module, 6000 and something, of course if you put the computers in, the cooling, of course, because the price is going up, “Bukele claimed.
Questioning doctors
In the sector of doctors and nurses, the cost of the modules has generated rejection and indignation because they describe the action as a waste, because the Public Health system of the country has 700 Health Units with adequate infrastructure with cold chain to keep the AstraZeneca vaccine refrigerated to the required temperature.
“Health units are equipped with the necessary infrastructure to maintain the cold chain, which is to keep the vaccine refrigerated until the exact time it is applied. In addition, people who go to communities or who go on itinerant routes and that you can not go to the units carry the terms that are regulated and standardized with the requirements of the World Health Organization.And that in this case they can work.They do not need additional infrastructure is not necessary, it is a waste of resources “, said the former Deputy Minister of Health, Eduardo Espinoza.
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According to Espinoza, Health had to strengthen and spend on health units, where vaccination sites already exist.
“In my opinion, this (construction) is a propaganda issue for electoral purposes, but it does not respond to the need, the pandemic vaccine simply (construction) should have added to the effort already in the vaccination programs, in which the country already has extensive experience, “he argued.
Eduardo Espinoza added that there are 570 Community Family Health Teams that are located nationwide and that their work is itinerant, which are trained for home vaccination. The former official stressed that it was these health teams, which in the last administration allowed El Salvador to position itself with high vaccination rates, surpassing Costa Rica in immunization rate.