Covid-19: Argentina must deal with delays in delivery of Sputnik V vaccine
Audio 02:30
Argentina received three times fewer doses of Sputnik V last week than expected.
AP - Natacha Pisarenko
By: Théo Conscience Follow
6 mins
Last December, Argentina was one of the first countries in the world to bet on the Sputnik V vaccine. Eight months later, the South American country has not yet received half of the 30 million doses ordered.
Delays in deliveries which affect in particular the "second doses", the Russian vaccine consisting of two non-interchangeable doses.
Publicity
From our correspondent in Buenos Aires,
Gabriela Oliveira, 81, received a first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine at the end of May. She suffers from chronic pulmonary problems, which force her to remain cloistered at home while waiting to be able to complete her vaccination schedule, laments her daughter María.
“Yesterday my mother was very upset, and asked me '
when is this all going to end? I am wasting the little time I have left. ”
She cannot see her four children, and have the normal life of an 81-year-old. The situation is very sad ”.
In all, more than five million Argentines are waiting for their second dose.
Under pressure, the government sent a letter to Russian authorities in early July complaining about the delivery delays, even raising the threat of a breach of contract.
Moscow pledged to rectify the situation, but Buenos Aires had already started looking for other solutions.
The government relies on a combination of vaccines
On August 12, Health Minister Carla Vizzotti received one million second doses of Sputnik V, the first to be produced on Argentine soil.
She recalls that the government has also launched a study on the combination of different vaccines.
"We can now move forward on the combination of different vaccines, in order to streamline and accelerate the injections of second doses during the month of August,"
she said
.
At the urging of the government, thousands of volunteers signed up to participate in this vaccine combination study.
Despite this, some see it as a form of improvisation.
"Normally, we should receive two doses of the same vaccine ... I find it all a little weird",
explains
Nancy, a 68-year-old retiree, who has already received a first dose of Sputnik V, and who is soon reaching the end of the maximum recommended time between the two injections.
“I'm in a dilemma because I'm nearing the end of my three month deadline, and I don't know if they will have the necessary doses.
I will wait until the last moment, to see what the latest information is, and there I will decide.
"
The threat of the Delta variant
The Argentine authorities assure that the first results of the study on the combination between Sputnik V and Moderna are promising.
Professor Gabriel Morón is one of those carrying out this research in the province of Córdoba.
“The results we have echoed those obtained in other places.
There are other international studies which make it possible to first ensure that there is no acute side effect, and then that this generates an effective immune reaction, ”he
explains.
Completing vaccination schedules is all the more important as the Delta variant will not be long in spreading in Argentina.
For the government, the challenge is also to vaccinate as much as possible before the partial legislative elections, scheduled for November 14.
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Argentina
Coronavirus
Health and medicine
Vaccines