Argentine Health Minister asked to resign over preferential vaccine access allegations
Argentine President Alberto Fernández asked for the resignation of Health Minister Ginés González García after veteran investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky revealed he had accessed a COVID-19 vaccination with the assistance of the health minister.
Verbitsky, 79, who suffers from asthma, recounted in a radio interview that he was vaccinated "after calling my old friend, Ginés González García, who told me to go to Posadas Hospital (a major public hospital west of Buenos Aires)."
"But I was then called by his secretary - who informed me that a vaccination team from Posadas Hospital would be at the Health Ministry, and that I should go there."
González García, 75, will reportedly be replaced by Public Health Access Secretary Carla Vizzotti, 48 - with whom he had often clashed during his 14-month tenure.
He had been praised for restoring access to 19 free-of-charge vaccines for children - a program discontinued by Mauricio Macri's right-wing, 2015-19 presidency - and for his support for generic drugs and abortion rights, which culminated in its historic legalization in January.
González García had also earned plaudits for expanding ICU bed access and securing COVID-19 vaccine agreements with Britain's AstraZeneca (for 22 million doses), Russia's Gamaleya (20 million), and the WHO's Covax program (9 million).
As of yesterday, however, only 635,000 doses had been administered (mainly Gamaleya) - half the global average on a per-capita basis. Argentina has so far recorded 2.05 million cases and 51,000 COVID-19 deaths.
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=es&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pagina12.com.ar%2F324841-el-presidente-alberto-fernandez-le-pidio-la-renuncia-a-gines
Outgoing Health Minister Ginés González García (center) and his successor, Carla Vizzotti, during a press conference early in the COVID-19 crisis in March.
González García had earned plaudits his efforts to expand access to vaccinations in general and his support for abortion rights - recently legalized in Argentina after decades of debate.
Today's revelations of apparent preferential access amid a slow vaccine rollout proved insurmountable for the health minister, who had clashed with Vizzotti - and increasingly, the president.
