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The Plenary of the House of Representatives approved in the third of four debates the vaccine bill, which establishes mechanisms to facilitate access to immunization against coronavirus.
The initiative, which received an urgent message from President Iván Duque, was left to a debate to become law. However, the approval of the project was fraught with controversy due to an article that generated a whole discussion in Congress.
(Also: Colombia assured “20 million doses of vaccines,” says Minsalud).
The provision that generated debate corresponds to article five of the bill, which refers to the responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies in case the vaccine generates adverse effects.
(See also: An article that collected the covid vaccine falls to high levels)
“Manufacturers of vaccines against Covid-19 acquired and supplied by the National Government They will only be responsible for malicious or seriously culpable actions or omissions, or for the breach of its obligations of good manufacturing practices or of any other obligation that has been imposed on it in the approval process ”, says the article.
As explained by Congresswoman Juanita Goebertus, this indicates that Congress, with this project, “Exempts pharmaceutical companies from responsibility for the effects of the covid-19 vaccine”.
“We are deciding that the pharmaceutical companies are not responsible for the effects that the vaccine may have and that therefore the Colombian State responds, because the reality is that the lawsuits are going to come,” Goebertus explained.
Faced with this, the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, admitted that this decision had to be made because the vaccine is being developed in less than 11 months.
“The pharmaceutical companies are requiring this disclaimer that practically everyone is having to accept,” Ruiz said.
When the underlying meaning of this article was known, the representative José Daniel López expressed his concern and wondered if “the Government is going to assume the political responsibility of exempting pharmaceutical companies from liability.”
Despite the warnings, this article was finally approved by the House Plenary.
Anticipating the scenario of possible lawsuits, the project established that “the National Government, subject to the availability of resources, may contract a global coverage policy to cover possible convictions that may be presented for adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccines applied by the Colombian State ”.
Key issues of the project
This bill, authored by congressman Ricardo Ferro, resolves many of the concerns of Colombians regarding access to the vaccine, since it will enable the National Government to establish strategic alliances and allocate health resources in experimental vaccines against Covid-19 , or any other pandemic that may arise in the future.
With this law we are going to guarantee that public resources can be allocated for the acquisition of the vaccine, but we will also guarantee that businessmen can join
The initiative allows the private sector to deduct taxes if they contribute resources to the National Risk Management Fund, which is the exchange created by the State for emergency mitigation, as is the case of the acquisition of vaccines and other activities focused on achieving immunization in the national territory against this pandemic.
The idea is that companies that file income tax are exempted from paying 50 percent of this tax if they contribute resources that allow the purchase of vaccines.
(Read also: Alert due to shortage of sedatives and analgesics in the country).
“With this law we are going to guarantee that public resources can be allocated for the acquisition of the vaccine, but we will also guarantee that businessmen can join to what can be called a great ‘cow’, where there will be public resources and private resources for the massive purchase of vaccine ”, assured the representative Ferro.
POLITICS
