In the latest ‘VIP’ COVID-19 vaccination programme scandal to rock Latin America, Ecuadorian Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos has resigned from his post, after it emerged that he had invited two university presidents to ‘skip the line’. He is also being investigated for state prosecutors after he delivered doses from the country’s first coronavirus vaccine batch to a luxury private nursing home where his mother resides, despite the shipment being reserved for the public sector. Furthermore, the National Assembly had deliberated over removing him from his post for his “poor handling of the pandemic and a poor vaccination process”.
Amid this controversy, Zevallos tendered his resignation to outgoing President Lenín Moreno. In his letter, he wrote, “Given the current political situation, and in order to allow the continuity of the National Vaccination Plan, I present to you, Mr. President, the irrevocable resignation of [my] functions of Minister of Health.”
Moreno thanked Zevallos for his service and took to Twitter to say, “There are those who only see mistakes. I respect that opinion. I prefer to remember the minister who accepted the difficult task of leading the country’s response to the worst health crisis that Ecuador and the world has experienced, [the minister] who helped save hundreds of thousands of lives with work and sacrifice.” The President also refuted allegations that any of his own relatives had been vaccinated ahead of schedule.
Also Read: Peruvian President Sagasti Reveals 500 Gov’t Officials Secretly Received COVID-19 Vaccines
Aside from the two university professors, radio host Diego Oquendo also acknowledged that he had received the vaccine, despite not being a frontline worker. Although Argentina and Peru have published a list of those who obtained their shots ahead of schedule, Zevallos said that patient confidentiality laws in Ecuador prevented him from following in their footsteps. Therefore, at this stage, it is not known how big this scandal really is.
Ecuador has recorded more than 281,000 COVID-19 cases and over 15,700 deaths from the virus. Citizens have grown angry about the slow roll-out process and the fact that the Moreno government has failed to secure sufficient vaccines.
Zevallos has, however, provided a glimmer of hope in saying that two million doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine would be received in March and April. He further said that he expects that nine million citizens will be vaccinated by the end of October.
Roughly two weeks ago, Interim Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti revealed that his administration has delivered to prosecutors the names of 487 government officials, including former president Martín Vizcarra, who abused their positions of power to secure doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for themselves and their families well before it was made available to the public. The scandal has already seen the resignation of Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti, Deputy Health Minister Luis Suárez Ognio, and Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete.
Also Read: Argentinian Health Minister García Ran Secret COVID-19 Vaccine Programme for ‘VIPs’
The following week, Argentina became embroiled in its own controversy, after it emerged that Health Minister Ginés González García had conducted a covert COVID-19 vaccination programme for senior government officials and their friends and family, as well as ‘VIPs’ with contacts in the government. The government soon published the names of 70 people implicated in the scandal, and it is thought that the list may grow in size after further investigation.
The resignation of Ecuador’s Zevallos makes him the third health minister from Latin America over the last month to resign after revelations of a secret vaccination programme for elites.