An illustration picture taken on November 19, 2020, shows a vial with Covid-19 Vaccine sticker, a syringe and an earth globe. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)
In order to serve the countries of the region that make up the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP) in the fight against COVID-19, Venezuela and Cuba have begun the process of creating a vaccine bank.
The information was provided this Sunday by Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro Moros, during the inauguration ceremony of the National Ozone Science Center. Maduro recalled that the proposal emerged last December at the virtual 18th Summit of ALBA-TCP, as a response to the vaccine and drug needs of all ALBA countries and other Latin America and Caribbean countries.
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“We are creating a vaccine bank for the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP),” said Maduro. “The Vice President of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez, has informed me.” Rodríguez was in Cuba on an official visit and was received by the prime minister, the Cuba-Venezuela cooperation commission, and President Díaz-Canel. “We are precisely carrying out the proposal to create a vaccine bank of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America,” stated the Venezuelan head of state.
The national leader referred to a World Health Organization (WHO) report that 95 percent of vaccines developed by laboratories to combat the pandemic were purchased by 10 countries.
“There is a monopoly on vaccines that reveals the unjust and unequal world system that exists,” he denounced.
Maduro said that vaccines that have been developed in different laboratories around the world “are a hope, but they are only a hope. Vaccines are a hope that are going to bear fruit, and they will be perfected.”
Maduro thanked the support of pharmaceutical companies and allied countries that have allowed Venezuela to acquire the supplies and treatments necessary to serve the people.
Finally, Maduro announced that new shipments of treatments and supplies will arrive soon in Venezuela for the proper care of COVID-19 cases, and to provide health workers with needed personal protective equipment (PPE).
Featured image: File photo.
Translation: OT/JRE/SL
