Desperate Paraguay cries out to the world, asking for help with Covid-19 vaccines

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo Tuesday cried out to the world, particularly Taiwan and the United States, for anti-Covid-19 vaccines to curb the spread of the disease, which has killed over 4,000 people so far.

“I want to tell our allies that they have to respond to us,” said Acevedo. “What is the use of fraternity if now they do not give us an answer? Both the United States and Taiwan have to respond,” he added.

The country’s top diplomat explained that “we have already lost a lot of time,” as pressure mounts against the administration of President Mario Abdo Benítez for the way the Covid-19 pandemic has been dealt with.

”The vaccine issue absorbs me, and I am sleeping with a blister in my ear (…) all efforts have been made. I have already spoken with the Russian foreign minister, the one from the Arab Emirates, the one from Qatar,“ Acevedo said.

Paraguay recorded 60 fatalities and 2,058 new cases last Sunday, while the total number of deaths rose to 4,003 and the number of infected rose to 280,655. In the first quarter of 2021, Paraguay has recorded 90% as many cases and deaths as in the entire year 2020, health sources explained.

Vaccination began in late February, after receiving 4,000 doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V, while the first shipment from the Covax Program, originally scheduled to arrive sometime in March, is still due.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Julio Borba launched a new appeal to the population from whom he asked for ”more sacrifice“ to reduce infections.

“Our services are currently 100% saturated,” Borba told a news conference. “We ask the people for one more sacrifice in the coming recent days, at least until April 5, to be able to reduce the number of positive cases that we have daily,” he went on.

Borba guaranteed this sacrifice would bring about a prompt return to normal life and recognized that ”what we were able to grow (in hospitals) we have already grown. We will continue to grow as long as we have human resources available,“ but he said a proper assessment of the outcome of the recently-imposed strict lockdown measures would need to wait a few more days.

“Only on Friday or Saturday could we begin to evaluate the number of cases that we have,” Borba said as he acknowledged a significant increase in positive cases at a rate of 2,000 new detections daily.

Regarding the possibility of extending the restrictions, he was cautious and mentioned that it would depend on the evaluation results. “In principle, I would not want to get ahead of myself, but we are not yet thinking of other types of measures,” he said.

He explained that additional trained personnel was needed to expand the hospital and ICU capacities, which was very scarce since other countries in the region are going through similar situations.

“More than 11,000 people have been hired, all hospitals have benefited from human resources, we are hiring, and we will continue to hire as long as possible,” he said.

Borba also laid hopes on the prompt arrival of a batch of Moderna vaccines, part of which would be a donation from Qatar’s government, and the rest would be a direct purchase on the part of the Paraguayan government.

“We have the 2 million [doses] from AstraZeneca, in talks with US manufacturers, and well, we have those that we are not yet receiving through the Covax mechanism,“ Borba added.

According to Borba, the world’s vaccine output exceeds global needs. He was also quick to underline that neighboring countries’ doses are not enough for their population at risk. ”Argentina acquired 1,200,000 Sputnik V vaccines and 200,000 through Covax. Let’s remember that they need about 46 million doses,“ he explained.

The health official also explained Air Force units were involved in the logistics of flying in midazolam and atracurium from neighboring countries. Consumption of those drugs went up ”10 times,” he stressed.