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This Tuesday, the Government announced the projected doses of coronavirus vaccines that will be taken monthly this year, tentatively, since they are different companies and their deliveries are subject to.
(Can read: Colombia has insured vaccines for 29 million people: Duque)
The head of the Health portfolio, Fernando Ruiz, asserted that there are agreements with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, for 5 million double-dose vaccines with each pharmacist, and with Janssen, for 9 million more single-dose vaccines, for a total of 29 millions of vaccines to initially cover the prioritized population, out of the total of more than 34 million Colombians subject to vaccination that allow the generation of herd immunity in the population.
“At this moment we are working with other pharmaceutical companies to have other vaccines,” added the minister. In addition, he recalled that Colombia is acquiring biological drugs through a portfolio approach, that is, having different types of vaccines to be applied in different populations and regions of the country.
(Read also: ‘Companies that sell vaccines require a confidentiality agreement’)
As it emerged, this is the schedule designed by the Government:
February: 850,000.
March: 3’862.900.
April: 1’800,000.
May: 7’968.900.
June: 3’360.000.
July: 8’431.567.
August: 6’382.667.
September: 3’779.567.
October: 7’212.900.
November: 3’212.900.
December: 2’097.011.
“Colombia is going to have an extensive process of vaccination of the population throughout 2021 and the arrival of vaccines is going to be the critical factor in Colombia and in all countries,” he said.
On the same matter, the Minister of Health said that no country has the possibility of starting prior negotiations for access to vaccine purchase contracts without signing a confidentiality agreement, in attention to the sensitive information that is being handled. “If this confidentiality is violated, the country will have to abide by the sanctions and possible loss of the negotiation and, therefore, of the biological ones,” he said.
On the other hand, Ruiz affirmed that Colombia has approximately 3,000 vaccination centers and approximately 7,000 vaccinators, “but we need to grow in that capacity.”
In this same sense, he warned, doctors, nurses, dentists, bacteriologists, assistants or technicians in nursing and public health will be able to access the training course that the Ministry of Health will carry out on ‘Management of vaccination against covid-19 in Colombia’ and Social Protection, in alliance with the National Learning Service (Sena).
(Don’t miss out on reading: Vaccination: a new battle front between the Government and the opposition)
How is the process to acquire vaccines?
According to the Health portfolio, for the choice of vaccines the Ministry of Health makes an analysis of which are the most advanced projects in the world and the best options for the country when complying with the required safety and efficacy requirements.
For this purpose, the Government created the Advisory Body, made up of the Ministry of Finance, the National Planning Department, academic and scientific institutions in the health sector, the Colombian Academy of Medicine and the Colombian Association of Infectious Diseases, which have a voice and vote in the discussion and choice. Also, representatives of the Secretariats of Health from all over the country.
Once the choice is made –explained the minister–, andhe Ministry makes the request for hiring to the National Risk Management Unit for the purchase of the selected vaccine. This contract is signed by the fiduciary La Previsora, a state entity with contracting capacity.
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“In all this process, the control entities have the ability to participate, in the advisory instance they are invited and, also, as often as they require the information, including the contracts themselves, they can be sent so that they can carry out the respective control “, he said and emphasized that control entities must also respect confidentiality agreements while fulfilling their function.
The budget assigned to date to support the signed agreements is $ 1,537,883,767,930, contributed by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.
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