Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, on Sunday sanctioned a law authorizing the Ministry of Health and the Honduran Institute of Social Security (IHSS) to accelerate the direct purchase of vaccines against cSARS-CoV-2 oronavirus.
The law was sanctioned by the Honduran ruler “hours later” which was forwarded by the Honduran Parliament and then sent to the National Graphic Arts Company for publication in the official newspaper La Gaceta, The presidency said in a statement.
The National Congress approved this Saturday a law authorizing the Ministry of Health to acquire vaccines against covid-19 through the rotating vaccine fund of the Pan American Health Organization (OPS), Of mechanisms already established and of “direct form, without intermediaries and without subjection to the dispositions established in the Law of Hiring of the State”.
The law aims to speed up the process of acquiring the vaccine without “having to be tied to COVAX due to the continuous changes in the date of delivery in which it has incurred this international mechanism before which the Government made a formal claim “, added the Executive.
COVAX is the mechanism established by the Global Vaccination Alliance (GAVI), the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) for provide governments with early access to a broad portfolio of candidate vaccines against covid-19.
NEGOTIATE AND BUY RUSSIAN VACCINE
The law includes that the Health Regulatory Agency (ARSA) can certify vaccines, allowing it to “negotiate and buy” the Russian Sputnik V vaccine that the WHO and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA, for acronyms in English) do not yet prequalify.
“The government already has advanced arrangements at the highest level for the direct acquisition of vaccines, not only with the manufacturer of Russia’s Sputnik V, but also with pharmaceutical companies. Pfizer and Modern, in order to gain access to immunization against the disease as soon as possible, “he emphasized.
The Secretary of Health of Honduras has been authorized to “acquire directly, without intermediaries and without subjection to the provisions established in the State Procurement Law, and to make the appropriate and relevant arrangements for the acquisition of vaccines against the virus,” he said. added.
In the process it will have to give “priority to the immediate availability of the vaccine in the shortest possible time and its availability in sufficient quantity for all the population, and to incorporate it the National Scheme of Vaccination through the Extended Program of Immunizations (PAI) “, according to the information.
The initiative also authorizes the IHSS to expedite the acquisition of the vaccine of “direct form, without intermediaries and without subjection to the rules laid down in the State Procurement Act,” in order to obtain the vaccination of its affiliates.
The Secretary of Health and the IHSS they may sign a cooperation agreement that allows for the “expansion and rapid vaccination coverage of relatives of insured persons and other specific population groups,” in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the National Covid-19 Vaccine Introduction Plan. EFE