The distribution of the Sputnik V vaccines that are arriving in the country, and which have been delivered in two batches between the end of last year and last week, has motivated a controversy around the decision of the Ministry of Health of award the contract to the private postal firm Andreani without opening a tender process.
The delivery of the first 300,000 doses of the Russian development of the Gamaleya center, at the end of last year, was the responsibility of Andreani, who at the time stated that due to the relevance of the shipment, I would not charge for the work done. However, the second batch will have a cost, that the State will pay that company. Sources close to the negotiation assure that it was always clear that this shipment was charged and that the first was a donation. And they detailed that a direct hiring was made to save time and not delay in the delivery of vaccines.
Thus, Andreani was confirmed to distribute the 20 million doses of the Russian vaccine, for which will receive 437 million pesos. Meanwhile, the Argentine Mail will receive 50 million to deliver part of the last shipment that arrived in the country from Moscow this week.
Correo Argentino, a company dependent on the national State, had made an offer for 161 million pesos to take care of shipments, but Andreani was prioritized in the decision, made from the Ministry of Health. Andreani will also be the company in charge of the transfer of the 30 million doses of the vaccine from AstraZeneca, expected in March.
In the case of the shipment of the development of the vaccine produced between the Anglo-Swedish laboratory and the University of Oxford, Andreani’s commitment is to distribute it for free, as it is a non-profit investment.
The Government stressed that Andreani was chosen for most of the distribution based on different quality criteria that were evaluated. Instead, Oca’s offer was discarded, which was not taken into account due to the high amount represented by their hiring, around the 1,300 million pesos.
In the company, through a statement, they maintained that “Andreani made himself available to the State and formally offered the donation of the distribution of 30 million vaccines corresponding to AstraZeneca’s departure, using its installed capacity of 2 ° to 8 ° C “.
Later, they indicated, “it was called by the Ministry of Health to a virtual meeting in which all the logistics operators specialized in cold chain participated, in which they reported that the Sputnik V vaccine was close to arriving in the country. When this shipment was confirmed, it also decided to offer the donation of 300,000 doses that arrived in the country on December 24, 2020. “
In the different services, Andreani added, “the company offered the best price-quality ratio for an operation with the specificity and complexity involved in handling vaccines at -18 °”. And he concluded by clarifying that “the securities listed by Andreani are related to high safety and quality standards that the company has provided for more than four decades to all its customers in the pharmaceutical industry. “
According to official data accessed on the website of the Ministry of Health, in Argentina 241,850 people have been vaccinated, distributed in different parts of the country, all belonging to health personnel, based on WHO recommendations.
According to the Ministry, as of January 20, Buenos Aires was the province with the highest number of people who received the doses, a total of 72,574, ahead of Córdoba, which registered 20,310, the City of Buenos Aires, with 16,645, and Santa Faith, with 14,722. In Tucumán 7,428 people were vaccinated, in Salta, 6,917, in Mendoza, 5,964, in Entre Ríos 5,290, in Chaco, 5,761, in Misiones, 4,689, in Santiago del Estero, 4,503, and in Jujuy, 4,494. Neuquén, with 3,631 doses, La Pampa, with 2,171, Santa Cruz, with 1,923 and Chubut, with 1,894, completed the main provinces where the vaccines arrived.
In the first batch of Sputnik V vaccines that arrived in the country, the province of Buenos Aires had received 123,000 doses; Santa Fe, 24,100; the City of Buenos Aires, 23,100; Córdoba, 21,900 and Tucumán, 11,500. The rest of the provinces, following the population parameters, received the least amount of doses. Those numbers were repeated in the last shipment, arrived in the country during the last weekend.
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