Coronavirus Vaccines in South America: Within the Region’s Race to Vaccinate Against Covid-19

“Latin American countries will compete for vaccines and medical supplies no matter where they come from,” said Parsifal D’Sola, the founder and CEO of the Andres Bello Foundation, a think tank committed to Sino-Latin American relations. “So far, developed countries have bought more than 50% of the available vaccines, so Latin America is likely to contact China and Russia to fill the void.”

The Coronavac, made by the Chinese company Sinovac, is already part of large-scale distribution in Brazil. The Russian Sputnik V vaccines have been embraced by several countries, including Argentina and Bolivia. But overall, the regional delivery of vaccines is messy and uneven without a coordinated approach, and it remains to be seen how the pandemic could shape the future diplomatic relationship between South America and the rest of the world.

As Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin American program at the Wilson Center Policy Forum in Washington, told CNN, South American countries are “rarely so divided and unable to forge common strategies.”

This is what their vaccination campaigns stand for now:

Argentina

The left-wing government of Alberto Fernandez was one of the first in the world to secure orders for the vaccine against Sputnik V developed by Russia.

In December, the national carrier Aerolineas Argentinas tweeted live a special flight to Moscow to pick up the first doses, a sign of how closely the partnership with Russia is seen in Buenos Aires.

Argentina has also won orders from other manufacturers for a total of nearly 50 million doses, according to Duke University’s database of vaccine pre-purchase agreements.

All vaccines provided so far come from Russia.

Brazil

Brazil is one of the most affected countries in the world by the coronavirus, and the vaccine saga has turned ugly with state governors criticizing the federal government for lack of coordination, and President Jair Bolsonaro questioning vaccines.

Compared to its neighbors, Brazil has strong vaccine production capabilities. However, experts say the country fell behind in the race to buy active ingredients to produce them.

Now the country’s best hope is the Chinese Coronavac vaccine, an ironic result given Bolsonaro’s signs of animosity towards China. More than 2 million doses have already been dispensed in Brazil, by far the highest number in the region.

Bolivia

Bolivia experienced a change of power in November when leftist President Luis Arce replaced Jeanine Añez.

While waiting for the first COVAX doses to be assigned to Bolivia, Arce has been able to obtain at least 20,000 Russian vaccine doses, which arrived in Bolivia on January 28.

The purchase hints at closer relations with both Russia and Argentina, where President Fernandez is a close ally of Arce and his predecessor Evo Morales.

Chili

Public records from Duke University show that Chile has pre-purchased vaccines from Western manufacturers AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, but the largest order has been placed for Coronavac from China. China is already Chile’s most important economic partner.

Despite ordering more than 90 million vaccine doses for a population of less than 20 million people, Chile’s vaccination program has yet to get underway. Less than 70,000 people have been vaccinated so far.

Colombia

Colombia is the largest South American country that has still not started vaccinations.

President Ivan Duque responded to critics who said the country relied primarily on the COVAX mechanism and pledged the vaccinations will begin on Feb. 20.

Colombia, the United States’ largest ally in the region, did not purchase vaccines directly from Russia, but recently announced a small purchase of the China-made Coronavac.

Ecuador

Last month, this Andean country started its vaccination program with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. Like other countries in the region, it is eagerly awaiting the COVAX mechanism to deliver doses.

Ecuador will hold presidential elections on Sunday. Leading leftist candidate Andres Arauz has been harshly critical of the government’s management of the crisis, claiming that if elected, he will receive millions of additional doses from China and Russia through Argentina.

Guyana and Suriname

Neither has started vaccination, but the impact of the pandemic was minor, with less than 10,000 cases in each of them.

Both will receive doses via COVAX.

Paraguay

The only landlocked country in South America is a vaccination diplomacy case study.

Paraguay has no diplomatic relations with Beijing and has recognized Taiwan – which is claimed by China – as the legitimate Republic of China.

Last year, a group of lawmakers filed a motion in the Senate to switch the recognition in Beijing’s favor, hoping to get more medical supplies to curb the pandemic. The vote was not successful.

Paraguay has not yet received a single dose of the vaccine, but is waiting for more than 4 million doses through COVAX.

Peru

Like neighboring Colombia, Peru has not yet received any doses. Both countries expect to be among the first to receive vaccines from COVAX, but Peru has also used the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine to bolster its arsenal.

In total, Peru expects more than 50 million doses, thanks in part to the vaccine trials conducted last year to provide valuable data to manufacturers.

Uruguay

After Venezuela, Uruguay has the lowest reported number of Covid-19 deaths per million people in South America. The government has orders from both Pfizer and Sinovac and is also expecting nearly 2 million doses through COVAX.

Uruguay, one of the smallest countries in the region, has already started vaccinations.

President Lacalle Pou has lamented what he called “an impressive commercial war” over vaccines.

Venezuela

On paper, Venezuela is the South American country least affected by the pandemic.

However, strong doubts remain about the capacity of President Nicolas Maduro’s controversial government to effectively monitor affairs in the country.

Maduro announced that Venezuela would receive vaccines from its traditional allies Russia and China as early as October, but no vaccination campaign has yet been launched.

Maduro also hopes for the Cuban vaccine Soberana 01, which is still under development.

According to the Pan American Health Organization, Venezuela was blocked from joining COVAX in January due to a lack of payments.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Cynthia Arnson’s last name.

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