Reserve 3,000 vaccine doses for personal use

A vaccination scandal overthrows the Minister of Health in Argentina

Minister Guinness Gonzalez distributed the vaccine to his friends before the official campaign began.

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Argentine Health Minister Guinness Gonzalez Garcia submitted his resignation late, the day before yesterday, at the request of Argentine President Alberto Fernandi, after it was revealed that friends of the Minister had received the vaccine before the start of the official campaign to vaccinate against "Covid-19".

The Minister and Doctor Guinness Gonzalez, 75, sent a letter to President Fernandez, in which he said: "In response to your urgent request, I submit my resignation from the position of Minister of Health."

In his letter of resignation, Gonzalez García indicated that “the people who received the vaccine (in the ministry) belong to the target groups in the current campaign,” that is, people over 70 years old.

The resigning minister was appointed his deputy, Carla Fitzotti, a 48-year-old doctor specializing in internal diseases, who was responsible for securing the Russian "Sputnik-V" vaccine for Argentina, the first country in South America to ratify and use it.

The scandal of the minister's friends previously receiving the vaccine came to light after the 71-year-old pro-government journalist Horacio Verbitzky announced in a radio interview that he owed his friend the minister for being able to take the vaccine in his office before residents.

Given his age, job, and personal risk, it was not yet his turn to receive the vaccine, and the elderly and those most at risk were usually the first to receive the vaccine.

In all, the former minister was reported to have reserved 3,000 doses of vaccine for personal use.

Union leader Hugo Moyano was among those who received the vaccine earlier than planned, and Moyano was reportedly vaccinated with his wife and 20-year-old son.

Argentina, with a population of 44 million, recorded about 2 million cases of "Covid-19", and more than 50 thousand deaths.

• Argentina recorded about two million cases of "Covid-19".

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