Deputy lawmaker urges investigation into ‘negotiated’ coronavirus vaccine

he Deputy Guillermo Rodriguez explain The government of former President Mario Abdo Benítez must not go unpunished for hastening the multimillion-dollar but unsuccessful effort to buy a vaccine against the coronavirus during the pandemic. But Paraguay received only 25% of the supplies.

“In 13 days, the Paraguayan government’s deal to buy 4 million doses of a vaccine against the coronavirus worth $6 million is about to expire. I wonder who will be held accountable for this. Where are the authorities who have to oversee the agreement and who have to be jealous of the custodian of state funds? Absolutely no one can complain for 13 days,” Rodriguez, a lawmaker from the Este Yo Creo movement, told a regular session of the lower house on Wednesday.

Agreements signed by the previous government with the previous government The World Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), established through the Covax mechanism, will expire on September 183,186,600 of 4.2 million vaccine doses have yet to reach the country $6.8 million in 2020.

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“They violated us and we have to bring the responsible people and ask where they are and who will be responsible for the $6 million that Paraguay wasted in a deal“, the deputy pronounced the sentence in front of his colleagues.

The then Minister of Public Health of Paraguay, Julio Mazzoleni, signed the agreement on the Covax mechanism as a representative of the Paraguayan government. On October 1, 2020, the Health Portfolio on behalf of the Covax Mechanism transferred to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) an “Access Bonus” of US$ 6,847,680 to be able to access 4,279,800 doses of List of beneficiary countries of the new crown vaccine.

A week later, on October 9, 2020, the Ministry of Finance, through former Secretary Benigno López, signed the “Guarantees and Compensation” document totaling $38.3 million. Despite millions of dollars in payments through the aforementioned mechanisms and security documentation for the total doses, only 1,093,200 doses, or slightly more than 25% of the order, were delivered.

“They told us at the time that it was imperative and very important to buy 4 million doses when we had millions of doses in our warehouse that were about to expire. You have to dig deep into who is benefiting from this business”Guillermo Rodriguez speaks before the plenary session. “Who is asking the public if, at the end of the pandemic, they would rather buy 4 million doses of a vaccine that never arrived, instead of buying ambulance planes to help fellow citizens in remote communities, buying 40 state-of-the-art ambulances to outfit treatment-intensive hospitals or building A highly complex hospital,” he said.

The case has now been referred to the Attorney General’s Office, which is analyzing the entire file on the huge purchase. Abdo Benitez’s government vaccinated the country through a failed deal that has so far cost $5.6 million.

“Paraguay will absolutely not ask anyone for anything, and $6 million will disappear without responsibility. The ex-President of the Republic (Mario Abdo Benítez), Julio Mazzoleni (ex-Minister of Health) and his entire cabinet must make a joint commitment and share responsibility, why those who do not speak out Legislators also made an effort? Say nothing. These are agreements that should be put under a magnifying glass,” Rodriguez said.

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