Ecuador changes its vaccination system against COVID-19 from May 25 | Ecuador | News

Jorge Wated reveals that the Government of Lenín Moreno has signed confidentiality agreements to bring the CanSino and Johnson vaccines.

The Secretary of General of the Presidency of the Republic, Jorge Wated, reveals that between Tuesday and Wednesday the 200,000 vaccines that China donated to the country will arrive and explains that the outgoing government has been concerned about the financing of the doses so that they cover all vaccinable Ecuadorians, but Guillermo Lasso’s regime will have to press for the compliance of pharmaceutical companies that are behind in shipments.

In addition, he affirms that Lasso will have to “pressure” the pharmaceutical companies to comply with the delivery schedules, since several have been delayed in the delivery of vaccine shipments.

How is the issue of vaccines until May 24? The president spoke of 1’800,000.

More or less, yes.

They are the doses that will be applied.

Applied.

What percentage of citizenship is left with the two doses?

There are 1,700,000 inoculations, a little more than that, of which almost 400,000 are two doses and the difference is one dose.

Who receives the first vaccine, until the end of this government, is the second dose guaranteed in the right time?

Yes, and I explain why. Each vaccine has its deadline: In the case of Pfizer you can get it until the 40th day, if I’m not mistaken; Sinovac, until the 28th; AstraZeneca until 84, that is a bit to measure the times, there are countries that have the vaccine and put it before like the United States (…) From there when it makes a difference between what is received and what is inoculated, it will realize that there is a difference in vaccines. It is what is saved to guarantee the second dose …

How many vaccines, of the negotiated ones, are pending to arrive?

Vaccines have reached Ecuador more than two million two hundred thousand: with those that arrived this week and will arrive on Saturday (May 22, 2021) we are talking about more or less two million four hundred thousand or two million five hundred thousand units, doses, and 700,000 more vaccines are arriving between Tuesday and Wednesday (May 25 or 26, 2021) which are 500,000 from those paid by the Government and 200,000 from a donation that comes from China.

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To give you a complete idea, the country committed 20 million vaccines with advances, the investment in the advances was approximately 75 million dollars; it also left the financing to pay for the rest of the vaccines. For example, Sinovac, which is two million vaccines, is 100% paid. In the case of Pfizer vaccines, as they arrive, the difference of the advance is paid. AstraZeneca the same, Covax exactly the same. And in the case of financing, in the total between what is already paid and what is financed there are about 270 million dollars that remain of invested resources.

In other words, of the 20 million doses, the government that enters is not going to worry about financing.

No, because that is already covered. What they are going to have to do is pressure and manage so that the vaccines arrive faster, the negotiation with the pharmaceutical companies. We have also left them authorized for the technical part of Arcsa to enter the Russian vaccine and there are also signed confidentiality agreements to start negotiations with a couple more vaccines.

And these 200,000 vaccines donated by China are the ones that the incoming president, Guillermo Lasso, said were donated as congratulations on his triumph?

Yes, 2,000,000 vaccines were bought from China that are 100% paid, of which a million have arrived in Ecuador and 500,000 are arriving on Tuesday or Wednesday, if I’m not mistaken. Within that package of 500,000 we must add 200,000 of donations and there are 500,000 to come of those paid by the country.

You say that the incoming government should push for the vaccines to arrive. Was there a commitment to know in what time 20 million doses were going to arrive?

Of course, but the contracts with the pharmaceutical companies are so leonine that you cannot fine them if they have a delay.

In what time should they arrive?

For example, AstraZeneca, out of 5 million contracted vaccines, so far it has reached zero; what has come to us from AstraZeneca was due to the Covax initiative, so of course, you have paid for it.

And in what time should they arrive?

Immediately, they gave you I think 30 days and began to deliver.

In what time did the 5 million vaccines contracted with AstraZeneca have to arrive?

Until October or November, you negotiate now and they give you the dispatches by semester, then they had given us the schedule for the first semester and they gave us the one for the second semester.

But it tells me that the contracts are beneficial to them, so we can’t demand?

Sure, you can pressure them, you can be there and everything, but there are no fines for non-compliance.

And you can’t say I don’t want to because they are needed …

You need them. That is why Ecuador hired, said 20 million because 10 million Ecuadorians are vaccinable; we are 17 million of which 7 million are under 18 years of age. There we began to get into the registry system and the cluster system. What do I mean by a cluster system: the police, we know where the police are, we distribute the vaccine to them and they give it to the police, the military the same, the municipalities the same with their cleaning system, municipal police, etc.

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Older adults no, older adults have to keep track of records; We do have those who attend Las Manuelas registered, we also have registered retirees, with a difference that not all the information that appears in the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) is up-to-date, so that information had to be valued Everything to get what was updated and what was not updated; The updated was cited and for the non-updated the IESS made a whole agenda on its website where they got to see with the identification number and they told him such day, such time, such vaccine and so the IESS has been vaccinating, obviously this scheduled with the IESS until May 24 because on May 25 they want to give you another way, there are different ways that you can vaccinate.

Precisely, on May 25 there is a new president …

But they will continue to vaccinate, already taking the line of the new government. In what is transition, we explained what our model was and how many vaccines they were going to have until the day we leave.

Then on the 25th the vaccination model of Guillermo Lasso enters …

Yes, they already get that.

And the issue of the management that the president-elect is doing, does he do it independently, and you no longer have participation?

No, no, no, we have met with their team, the government team of President (Lenín) Moreno and the pharmaceutical companies, and he has been trying to negotiate with other types of vaccines and the government, in the case of Russia.

And do you know if results have already been obtained with Russia?

No, we have not gotten into that negotiation.

Guillermo Lasso had also ordered vaccines from Chile, which he bought in excess.

Yes, but those are independent efforts, the important thing about the vaccine it manages is to know, we want this from here and we run and we are working on it and we are advancing the way with the approvals and all the work, and that was achieved with Russia. With Russia we made the approval regardless of the fact that Ecuador already had a confidentiality agreement with Russia and had been handling a negotiation to bring its vaccine.

You were talking about two other vaccines for which confidentiality agreements have already been signed, what are they?

One is CanSino and the other is Johnson; With Johnson there was a problem, they were looking for a specific fund of so many millions of dollars to be created so that in case someone gets sick with his vaccine, the fund will cover him, that legally in Ecuador is not possible, but there are other alternatives that are They were negotiating with them and the new government is already managing them, that is, that was part of the transition, that is, this is what there is, this is what is coming and obviously the Government when it hired, hired within the framework of the period that he had left and he paid thinking and being responsible with the next government.

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A government that would not have been responsible would have said well, I will stay until May 24, I will negotiate the amount of vaccines I need until May 24 and that the next one will see how it solves. What we did is negotiate, seek financing, pay advances to vaccinate all vaccinable Ecuadorians, even those who do not want to be vaccinated.

Is the cabinet of President Moreno vaccinated?

I already published the list of those who were vaccinated.

Sure, a few weeks ago …

The same list is maintained in Ecuador. (I)

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