The cost of the vaccines to be purchased by the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS) will come from the employer’s employer contributions of the affiliates, argues the Union, alluding to the guarantee that the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (Cohep) puts in this transaction .
“We are very happy with the delivery of the guarantee that Cohep made yesterday (Wednesday) to be able to buy these vaccines,” said the president of the IHSS Workers’ Union (Sitraihss), Héctor Escoto.
“But it must be said emphatically, that the money is going to come from the beneficiaries, from the Social Security funds themselves, or from the contributions of workers and employers.”
“That means,” Escoto added, “that neither the government nor the Cohep will put a five to buy these vaccines. That must be clearly established ”.
He complained because “during this pandemic, even in the most critical months of May, June and July, we were not supported by Social Security, nor by Cohep, nor by the government, that the government has an obligation to support us in this pandemic and not it has done”.
This week the business leadership gave the director of the IHSS, Richard Zablah, a bank guarantee of 1.2 million dollars or more than 30 million lempiras, with which Cohep endorses the purchase of 1.4 million doses from the pharmaceutical AstraZeneca Oxford.
It is the first part of a total guarantee of 60 percent per cent that Cohep pledged. Negotiations with AstraZeneca began since the middle of last year, the comptroller German Leitzelar said, in addition, that the unit cost will be 4.13 dollars, more than 100 lempiras at the current exchange rate.
In total, the Insurance will disburse 5 million, 700 thousand dollars, above 140 million lempiras, for the 1.4 million doses. He commented that the Insurance has around 830 thousand members and they are managing more doses to be able to immunize the entire insured population.
According to the contract, on April 21 a first shipment with approximately 156 thousand vaccines would be arriving, the last delivery is scheduled for August of this year.
Priority will be given to workers who are on the front line fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, starting with medical personnel and affiliates with underlying diseases that make them vulnerable to the pathogen. (JB)
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