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While in Europe vaccination against the new coronavirus has already begun and in North America countries such as Canada and the United States are close to beginning to immunize their citizens on an emergency basis, The question that everyone is asking is how Colombia is doing in the race to obtain effective and safe biologicals.
In the first place, it must be said that the country chose as the first option in a comprehensive strategy for the COVAX mechanism, which brings together 186 nations in order to guarantee global and equitable access to the vaccine.
It is known that through this mechanism the national government assured 20 million doses, For which it has arranged about 200 million dollars and that the units will be available when COVAX has closed the purchase agreements with the producing pharmaceutical laboratories.
(You may be interested in: 10 Things to Know About Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine)
With the understanding that COVAX will not be insufficient to cover its population, the Government has reported that has confidentiality agreements with Pfizer, Astrazeneca, Janssen, Sinopharm, CanSino and Serum Institute of India, that would allow access to an additional number of vaccines in the delivery and availability times to which the laboratories commit.
Of these agreements, Resolution 2327 of November 25, 2020 of the Ministry of Finance was known, which enables $ 437,188’800,000 (123 million dollars) through the FOME for the acquisition of 10 million doses of vaccines from Pfizer, at a price $ 12 per dose. To date, neither the Ministry nor the laboratory have confirmed the closing of the negotiation.
(Also read: Pfizer’s vaccine is effective and safe: New England Journal of Medicine)
In the coming weeks and as the results of the other companies with which confidentiality agreements have been signed progress, the Ministry of Health should be informing the closing of the negotiations and with it, the real availability of vaccines for the country.
As the weeks go by specifying these matters, Chile has insured 84 million vaccines outside of COVAX, Argentina 47 million, Peru 10 million, Ecuador 9 million, not to mention Mexico and Brazil, which have achieved 160 and 196 million vaccines respectively.
Yesterday, in any case, law 2064 was passed, that declares the strategy for the immunization of the Colombian population against covid-19 of general interest and provides, among other aspects, free for the entire population. In addition, it establishes tax benefits for those who donate resources for the acquisition of vaccines, creates the council for the evaluation of adverse reactions, indicates that vaccine manufacturers will only be responsible for malicious or seriously culpable actions or omissions during emergency use and It allows the contracting of a global policy by the Government to cover possible convictions for adverse reactions.
(In addition: the United Kingdom recommends not vaccinating against covid-19 to severe allergies)
This is a first step to be followed by the promulgation of the emergency use framework by the Ministry of Health, which will give the Invima health agency the regulatory tools to allow the entry of vaccines into the country.
In the midst of this panorama, experts point out that It is necessary to accelerate the pace and to prepare the monumental logistics that a vaccination plan of this magnitude requires. Colombia, it is worth saying, has ample experience and its Expanded Immunization Plan (EPI) is an example in the region, but the covid-19 vaccine faces the challenge of vaccinating at least 15 million Colombians in a first phase with different technologies and temperature conditions in some cases minus 70 degrees centigrade.
The most specific thing that the Government has released is that the start of vaccination in Colombia against covid-19 will be in the first quarter of 2021 or even, as the vice minister of health Alexander Moscoso said in early April.
HEALTH UNIT
