On 1 June Santiago Cornejo, director for country engagement at Covax, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) initiative aimed at guaranteeing equitable access to coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines, said that Argentina had rejected offers to receive the Pfizer vaccine through Covax.
Analysis:
Cornejo’s comments, which suggest that Argentina could have had access to more vaccines than is currently the case, have potentially sparked another vaccine scandal for the government led by President Alberto Fernández as the country faces the most severe moment of the pandemic yet and criticisms that it failed to secure a sufficient number of vaccines. The Fernández government has already lost a health minister over a vaccine queue-jumping scandal and has been pilloried by the political opposition for allegedly seeking bribes from Pfizer; these latest revelations are likely to put it even more on the back foot.
- Speaking at a virtual event organised by the Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (Cari), a non-profit academic institution, Cornejo said that Argentina has an optional purchase agreement with Covax, allowing it to choose which vaccines it receives, and that Argentina had rejected doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Cornejo was replying to a question from Claudia Najul, a national deputy for the centre-right opposition Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) coalition.
- Najul then slammed the Fernández government on Twitter, accusing it of neglect and saying that the legislature will demand explanations. “[The government] are playing with people’s health while they continue to hide the reasons why they did not sign [a contract] with Pfizer”, she said. Argentina, which currently has the AstraZeneca vaccine, Russia’s Sputnik V, and Chinese firm Sinopharm’s vaccine, has vaccinated 21.4% of its population with at least one dose according to Our World in Data.
- The government has reacted to Cornejo’s comments, with the health ministry issuing a statement saying that the information that it refused Pfizer vaccines via Covax is “false” and that it is Covax that “excluded” the Argentine government rather than the other way round.
Looking Ahead: Fernández's chief-of-staff, Santiago Cafiero, is due to appear before the senate tomorrow (3 June) to present a report on the government’s policies, in which he replies to a record 1,160 questions presented by senators on a wide variety of issues including efforts to tackle the second Covid-19 wave. Cafiero may now face further questioning on the government’s vaccine procurement process following Cornejo’s comments.