COVID-19 vaccination progresses unevenly in Latin America 

Vaccination against COVID-19 in Latin America is progressing unevenly, and while the drop in infections recorded by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is good news, it is not so good for countries where, until this Friday, the first dose has not even arrived. 

WHO data for the entire American continent show that to date there have been 48,956,948 positive cases of the coronavirus and 1,159,854 deaths, with a downward curve for both figures, but with great concern for those countries where inoculation with any of the already authorised vaccines has not begun. 

However, there are subdivisions within that set of countries. In Uruguay, for example, there is still no certainty about the arrival of the 3.8 million doses from Pfizer and Sinovac - in addition to the 1.5 million doses it has already secured from the Covax mechanism - but the fact that it has signed contracts gives the government some guarantee that it will start vaccinating at least 3% of its population as of March. 

This is not the case in Nicaragua, where so far no progress has been reported in negotiations with any laboratory, and it is very likely that Daniel Ortega's government is waiting for the shipment of Covax compounds, which may not arrive until June. 

The Nicaraguan government has also hinted that it is awaiting the arrival of Sputnik V vials from Russia, but has not given dates for this either. 

While Guatemala and Honduras are also eagerly awaiting Covax compounds, a WHO-led mechanism, they have reportedly negotiated for doses to arrive from laboratories such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca. 

The rest of Central America is vaccinating, but the WHO has already warned that covid-19 can become more aggressive if not attacked uniformly in regional contexts. 

The efforts of Panama, Costa Rica and El Salvador could collapse if Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras do not jump on the vaccination "bandwagon" sooner, a concern that prompted the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) on Friday to announce it will support Central America and the Dominican Republic with up to 800 million dollars to buy vaccines. 

Cuba is a separate case. The island has decided to develop its own vaccine and four candidates are already in phase 2 clinical trials. In addition, Cuba is not a Covax subscriber, so it will not receive vaccines from the WHO. 

Thirty-three Latin American countries have signed up to the Covax mechanism and the fight against COVID-19 in the poorest countries will depend almost exclusively on the doses that the WHO provides. 

That is why the head of the UN agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, welcomed Friday that countries such as the US, France, Germany and the UK have announced new commitments to Covax for the global delivery of anti-covirus vaccines. 

"There is a growing movement for equity in vaccine delivery, and I welcome world leaders who are responding to the challenge," the Ethiopian leader said in a statement. 

The United States announced Thursday that it will "immediately" donate $2 billion for the development and equitable distribution of vaccines, and will provide an additional $2 billion in the coming months, in a bid to take international leadership against the pandemic. 

Under the new administration of Joe Biden, the United States joined Covax at the end of January in a U-turn from the policy of former president Donald Trump. 

The push by powers such as the US will help the WHO to supply vaccines to the third world and thus contribute to a more level playing field in the fight against COVID-19, or at least to prevent the disease from hitting the poorest. 

Privileges when it comes to vaccination are also a form of inequality and, as in the now famous case of Peru's "Vaccinagate", in Argentina it has also cost heads. 

Argentina's president, Alberto Fernández, on Friday called for the resignation of his health minister, Ginés González García, in the midst of the controversy sparked by the 79-year-old pro-government journalist Horacio Verbitsky. 

Verbitsky, who is very close to vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, was vaccinated against covid-19 after asking the head of the health ministry to do so, without respecting the protocol followed for the general population. 

"I called my old friend Ginés González García, whom I have known since long before he was a minister, and he told me I had to go to the Posadas Hospital. When I was about to go, I received a message from his secretary, who told me that a team of vaccinators from the Posadas was coming to the Ministry, and to go to the Ministry to give me the vaccine," Verbitsky revealed to El Destape radio station. 

The delivery of 6 million covid-19 vaccines is being delayed in the United States because of the snow and cold weather in several parts of the country, the White House said on Friday. 

"We have a backlog of about 6 million doses because of the weather. All 50 states have been affected, and the 6 million doses represent about a three-day delay in distribution. In many states they've been able to cover it with existing inventory," said Andy Slavitt, one of the government's pandemic advisers. 

In addition to the inconvenience of the various carriers and logistics companies such as FedEx, UPS and McKesson, the storm-related road closures have prevented the distribution of vaccines from "manufacturing sites to distribution and transportation points".