‘Vaccinegate’ in Argentina: Alberto Fernández removes Minister of Health

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Argentina’s president has sought the resignation of health minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia, two sources in the presidency said on Friday, February 19th, after media reports that people had been able to use connections to get access to COVID-19 vaccines.

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The scandal came after a veteran journalist said he had received a shot after speaking directly with the minister, and throws a spotlight on wider fears in the region over corruption and access to vaccines, which are in short supply.

Earlier this month, Peru’s health minister quit after reports of hundreds of Peruvian officials and others receiving vaccine doses outside of clinical trials and before the national immunization program began.

The two sources in the president’s office confirmed media reports that the president had sought Garcia’s resignation.

“The president indicated to the chief of staff that the minister of health should be asked to resign,” one of the sources said.

Argentina’s health ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier in the day, well-know local journalist Horacio Verbitsky said he had received a shot after being offered the opportunity by the minister.

“I called my old friend Ginés González García and he told me to go to the Posadas Hospital,” Verbitsky, who is in his seventies, told radio station El Destape.

Since December, Argentina has been using Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine to inoculate frontline health workers, though deliveries have lagged far behind what it initially hoped for. The country has started inoculating some people over 70 this week but appointments are scarce and people are supposed to follow a procedure that involves registering first.

Local media have reported multiple cases of politicians and others who were not in priority groups receiving their shots.

As of Wednesday in Argentina, about 250,000 people had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The country of around 45 million people has confirmed over 2 million coronavirus infections and 51,000 deaths.

The sources did not immediately say who would replace the health minister.