Vaccines: ‘there is no market’ and ‘it is an abstract debate’, the reply of the provinces to Santiago Cafiero

“Abstract”. With that term, the Buenos Aires Minister of Health Fernán Quirós defined any type of debate that may arise around the purchase of vaccines from the provinces or private laboratories. “The vaccines that states, such as China and Russia, provide only for nation states; and those produced by private companies have already committed all their annual production many months ago, “was the reflection of the City’s health reference this Thursday.

There is no difference in the conception of Quirós with respect to the historical account of Nación on the subject. At Casa Rosada, when a specific lobby on the part of pharmaceutical companies emerged a month ago to advance in the purchase of doses and market them, they were clear. “They can go buy whatever they want, but they won’t give it to them. They only sell them to countries “, was the message that was downloaded from Balcarce 50 at that time.

Santiago Cafiero’s words on Wednesday, however, puzzled even some government officials. The Chief of Staff said in an interview with TN that “the provinces, the City of Buenos Aires and the private sector can buy vaccines on their own”. In support of that statement, he explained that “this was approved in Congress last year, when the vaccine law was passed.” However, he acknowledged that “with the level of scarcity that exists, these are the vaccines that are being obtained. Anyone who goes out to the market to buy is going to get them for who knows what month.”

From the provinces with the highest standard of the country – and therefore those most affected by the impact of Covid-19 – they fully adhere to the message that Quirós downloaded. Even a high-ranking source from the Axel Kicillof administration in Buenos Aires told Clarion: “What Quirós answered is the most appropriate answer.”

Somehow, Certain symbiosis in the statements on the subject of vaccines shows that the relationship between City and Province, even with ideological nuances, it is more fluid than the one that Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Alberto Fernández put together in recent months.

Minutes after the words of the Larretista official, it was Kicillof who, in his own way and in a chicane towards Buenos Aires mayors of Together for Change, referred to the matter, without alluding to Cafiero. “Yesterday there was a controversy about whether the provinces or municipalities could buy vaccines or not. The province has been working since July last year to contact suppliers,” he said.

Other populous provinces like Cordova they explained their position officially via Twitter. “Through the health authorities we have had conversations, since November 2020, with vaccine producing laboratories such as AztraZéneca, Pfizer and Elea, in an attempt to buy doses of their vaccines to be applied to the citizens of the province. In all cases, the commercial representatives of the laboratories expressed their good disposition, but clarifying that, in order to comply with the commitments assumed with the national States they would not be in a position to provide vaccines before the end of 2021“, they published in separate shipments through that social network.

In off, sources from the government of Juan Schiaretti confirm that “the laboratories are not selling to the sub-national states (provinces, municipalities) because they still could not comply with what they committed to with the national states.” And they quote the governor himself, who at the opening of provincial legislative sessions on March 1 said that in order to “vaccinate 70% of the population, we are going to buy the vaccines that are needed when the laboratories come in to sell them to the Sub-national states “.

From the Mediterranean province they affirm that Cafiero’s speech back then was different. “He said that all vaccine provision is national to ensure equitable distribution.” And they ratify that today, beyond the possibility by law, “there is no way to buy outside the national state, there is no market available.”

Before the consultation of this newspaper, in Santa Fe They also coincide with the rest of the provinces and recall that the message was always downloaded from the Nation that only the States could purchase vaccines.

The discussion about the purchase and sale of vaccines by private parties has been going on since the beginning of the year. A sector of the opposition, led by Patricia Bullrich, promoted it directly, ensuring that from the pharmaceutical sector there were possibilities of acquiring doses from laboratories. An initiative was also presented in Congress on this issue, promoted by the radical deputies Alfredo Cornejo and Luis Petri.

Two weeks ago, in a Zoom of the entire table of Together for Change, Bullrich had differences with Rodríguez Larreta and Mauricio Macri on that issue, precisely. The former president came out to support the head of the Buenos Aires government and they explained that currently those who have vaccines to apply are the States.

After Quirós’ statements this Thursday, sources close to Bullrich expressed their rejection of the position of the Minister of Health. “It is serious that Quirós has ceded the autonomy that the City of Buenos Aires has to bring your own vaccinations; it is crazy to hand over that power to a national government that got tired of harming the porteños, taking away resources and cutting back on vaccines. “And they added:” It is false that there is no availability of vaccines in the world: now that winter is over in Europe and USA, the laboratories are in a position to sell to Argentina, but you have to know how to manage it; without ideologies“.

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