- Guatemala cancelled its order for the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured in Russia.
- President Alejandro Gamatai stated that the country will no longer purchase 8 million vaccines.
- The country paid US$79.6 million for the Sputnik-5 vaccine.
President Alejandro Giammattei announced on Tuesday that Guatemala has cancelled its second order of 8 million Russian-made Covid-19 vaccines due to delays in the delivery of previous orders.
The President told reporters that his government has renegotiated the contract with Moscow and will no longer purchase the additional 8 million satellite V doses stipulated in the original agreement, but will negotiate with other pharmaceutical companies.
Read | Russians are unwilling to accept Covid-19 Sputnik V shots, ignoring Putin’s request
Jamatai said the cancelled purchases are equivalent to “50% of the planned use of artificial satellite vaccines.”
“With the release of the pledge (with Russia) this year, we will invest this money in the negotiations that have already been conducted with other companies.”
Guatemala paid US$79.6 million to the Russian Direct Investment Fund for 8 million doses of Sputnik V. However, so far, it has only received 550,000 vaccines.
The delay triggered criticism of the government and calls for investigations, while Ombudsman Jordan Rodas and dozens of social, educational and humanitarian organizations demanded Gamatai’s resignation.
new contract
As a result, Guatemala renegotiated the contracts. According to Russia, these contracts involved a total of 16 million vaccines.
Giammattei said that under the new contract, the 8 million doses of vaccines already paid will arrive before the end of the year, and his government is currently negotiating with Johnson & Johnson, Hyundai and Pfizer on the remaining vaccines.
He also announced that the “state of prevention” measures implemented two weeks ago to help slow the spread of the pandemic are no longer effective.
The prevention state suspended a number of constitutional guarantees, such as demonstrations, gatherings, and carrying guns.
Although the Russian vaccine was delayed, Guatemala received more than 3 million doses of vaccine, including donations from the United States, India, Israel, and Mexico, as well as products purchased from the United Nations Covax program.
But the vaccination campaign in this Latin American country has stalled, with less than one million people receiving two full doses of the vaccine.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Guatemala has a population of 17 million and has recorded 355,223 Covid-19 cases and 10174 deaths.
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