The vaccines from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Astrazeneca are currently chosen by at least 11 Latin American countries, compared to a large group hoping to activate the Covax mechanism and other governments who have opted for the Russian Sputnik V or for the Chinese Sinovac.
The region, with more than 16.7 million infected, still faces high levels of infection, with Brazil leading the way with 8.9 million cases, increasing the urgency to immunize most of the population soon.
THE PIONEERS
When the United States took to the world for vaccination, the first plane carrying Pfizer antigens for Latin Americans arrived in Mexico on Dec. 23, purchasing 34.4 million doses.
The Mexican plan, which began a day later, is progressing slowly as only 624,105 doses were provided and only 28,715 people received the second injection needed to prevent the disease with this biologic.
The government’s goal is to vaccinate all health workers by the end of January, start in February with the elderly, and inject 126 million Mexicans for free by 2022 with, in addition to the Pfizer preparation, 77.4 million doses agreed with the British AstraZeneca 35 million with the Chinese CanSino and 24 million with the Russian Sputnik V.
CHILE, COSTA RICA AND PANAMA DO THEIR THINGS
Another Latin American pioneer in immunization is Chile, which also chose Pfizer, of which 56,549 people had received at least one dose and nearly 10,000 both by January 26.
The country, plunged into the second wave of the pandemic, expects 10 million doses from Pfizer, another 10 million from the Chinese company Sinovac and 6 million from Astrazeneca.
Similarly, Costa Rica has received five shipments of Pfizer vaccines since December 23, for a total of 104,325 units, of which it had administered 45,707 first doses by January 25, and 2,421 corresponding to the second.
Despite a good start to the vaccination schedule, the pharmaceutical company has suspended deliveries due to production adjustments, but will resume them on February 15 and meet the agreed amount in the first quarter of the year.
Costa Rica, with a population of 5 million, acquired 3 million doses with Pfizer targeting 1.5 million residents, while with AstraZeneca it will inoculate 500,000 residents and one million residents with those awarded by the World Health Organization (WHO) Covax mechanism.
Ecuador, for its part, started a “pilot phase” on January 21, during which it will administer 8,000 vaccines to health workers, the elderly and nursing home staff.
That lot is part of an initial shipment of 86,000 doses negotiated with Pfizer, which will deliver 2 million this year.
In addition, the government negotiated 5 million doses with AstraZeneca, 4 million with the company Covaxx and another 8 million with the Covax mechanism.
Timidly, Panama began its immunization campaign on Jan. 20 after receiving its first shipment from Pfizer containing 12,840 doses, a reduced amount due to manufacturing issues, as 40,000 were expected.
THE GIANT WHO WALKS SLOW
Brazil, criticized for delayed start of vaccination, has imported 2 million doses of AstraZeneca from India and has about 10 million more Sinovac, figures insufficient to protect its 212 million inhabitants.
Controversy erupted in the country when President Jair Bolsonaro opposed the purchase of vaccines from Sinovac in China last October and disavowed his health minister, Eduareo Pazuello, who announced the sale of 46 million doses.
Despite Bolsonaro claiming a lack of efficacy of the Chinese immunizer, the truth is that it was developed and experienced in Brazil in collaboration with the Butantan Institute, a scientific institution affiliated with the state of Sao Paulo whose governor, Joao Doria , is a major political rival to the president.
On the other hand, where the advance of China had an ultrasound was in Peru, which is preparing to download the first batch of one million vaccines obtained from the Sinopharm laboratory out of a total of 38 by the end of the month. million.
Worryingly, however, the Directorate-General of Medicines, Supplies and Drugs is still pending approval of its accession as, as indicated, it expects Sinopharm to provide “key documents” on certifications and the operation of its Beijing laboratory.
PREFERENCE FOR RUSSIA
Another option that is gaining traction in Latin America in this race against the aggressive coronavirus is the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
This is confirmed by Argentina, which plans to immunize 10 million people with this preparation, of whom it received the first shipment of 300,000 doses with which health personnel began to vaccinate on December 25.
Another case is that of Bolivia, which signed a contract to purchase 5.2 million doses, with initial deliveries of 1.7 million in March and subsequent deliveries in April and May.
The first batch of 6,000 Russian-made covid-19 vaccines for Bolivia is already underway, the country’s foreign ministry reported Wednesday.
Midway through this month, the government signed a new contract to supply 5 million vaccines from AstraZeneca, covering “100%” of the population eligible for vaccination as of April.
As expected due to its political proximity, the government of Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro announced an agreement with Russia on December 29 to purchase 10 million Sputnik V with which it plans to vaccinate its residents in the first quarter.
All this in the midst of a controversy: Maduro corrected his statement last Tuesday that the drug Carvativir “neutralizes the covid-19” “100%” and indicated that the product made in the Caribbean country is “complementary” in the fight against disease, so For now, Venezuelans remain unprotected against the virus.
THE VACCINATION IS NOT YET STARTING
Colombia is also a step back as the government has entered into agreements with Covax to acquire 20 million doses, in addition to 10 million from Pfizer, 10 million from AstraZeneca and 9 million from Belgium’s Janssen, a subsidiary of US-based Johnson & Johnson and whose preparation required a single application, but none received.
In the case of Uruguay, it was announced that it will vaccinate all of its health personnel in three days once the first 200,000 doses of the 2,000,700 it has negotiated with Pfizer arrive, and later 1,750,000 from Sinovac will join.
On the other hand, there is no exact date to inoculate with 2 million doses of AstraZeneca in El Salvador, and in the Dominican Republic, some of the 7.9 million doses of Pfizer and 10 million AstraZeneca that have been negotiated are expected to be in March. have arrived.
CUBA AND COVAX, THE HOPE OF THE POOR
While governments in some Latin American countries go through their wallets to find money and buy vaccines, Cuba began a new phase of clinical trials on January 18 with Soberana 02, the most advanced of its four immunization candidates, hand in hand hand goes with Iran.
Cuba has a renowned biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry that currently produces eight vaccines against meningitis, lung cancer and solid tumors, among others.
The island plans to vaccinate a “significant portion” of its population by the end of the first half of 2021, which would open the door for other countries with little economic resources to obtain the biologics.
Encouraging news in that regard also has to do with the fact that 280 million doses of vaccines will arrive in Latin America this year through the Covax program, according to the GAVI Vaccine Alliance.
While it is not specified which countries, taking into account the World Bank’s classification of states by income that use GAVI and WHO to designate Covax beneficiaries, it would be El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Haiti.