Anti-Covid vaccines: in Argentina, deputies summon labs to explain themselves
A caregiver prepares a dose of AstraZeneca vaccine in Buenos Aires, June 4, 2021. REUTERS - MATIAS BAGLIETTO
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Representatives of laboratories producing vaccines against Covid-19 were summoned virtually in front of Argentinian deputies on Tuesday, June 8.
First scheduled in camera, this session was finally broadcast live.
The Pfizer case, with which the Argentine government has failed to find an agreement for the delivery of vaccines, has been at the center of questions from the deputies.
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With our correspondent in Buenos Aires,
Théo Conscience
The question has been agitating Argentina for weeks: why have negotiations for
the purchase of
Pfizer-BioNtech
vaccines
still not succeeded? In front of the deputies, the director of Pfizer Argentina, Nicolás Vaquer, evokes legislative blockages. “
Today, the law is not compatible with some of Pfizer's contractual requirements
,” he said.
How to explain that there was no problem with the other laboratories, wonders the deputy of the Left Front Nicolás Del Caño, who recalls that Argentina allowed Pfizer to carry out clinical trials on its territory in August 2020. "
Thousands of Argentines and Argentines participated in the Pfizer trials, so I would like to know why you refused to sell doses to Argentina,
" he asks.
Boost on vaccination
"
These are two completely independent things,"
replied Pfizer's representative in Argentina, Nicolás Vaquer.
Moreover, it is up to the executive power to choose with which vaccines it advances in its strategy against the pandemic.
"
Argentina wants to give new impetus to its vaccination campaign from next week, when it starts producing the Sputnik V vaccine from the Russian laboratory Gamaleya, on its soil.
Out of 45 million Argentines, 11 million have been fully vaccinated.
Next week, it will be the turn of representatives of AstraZeneca and the Gamaleya institute to justify their delivery delays to the deputies.
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See also: Argentina in search of vaccine sovereignty
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