Guatemala Struggles With COVID Vaccine Rollout, Corruption Issues

By Mary Webber (staff@latinpost.com) First Posted: May 14, 2021 03:32 AM EDT

A nurse holds COVID-19 swab tests for Guatemalan immigrants Marvin and his son Junior at a clinic on May 5, 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut. They were re-tested to see if they are now negative, a month after getting sick from coronavirus. Marvin's wife Zully, also sick with COVID-19, gave birth to Marvin's son Neysel on April 2. Hospital staff performed an emergency C-section to save the child and Zully was put on a ventilator. Her baby, Neysel could not go home, as his father Marvin and brother Junior were COVID-19 positive and quarantined there. After several weeks in the hospital, Zully responded well to antibody blood plasma transfusions and was able to return home. The infant is in the temporary care of elementary school teacher Luciana Lira. The K-5 Bilingual /ESL instructor, who teaches Junior at Hart Magnet Elementary in Stamford, will continue caring for the baby until his family tests COVID-negative, and they can all be reunited. The Stamford non-profit Building One Community (B1C) immigrant resource center is assisting the family during this time. (Photo : John Moore/Getty Images)

COVID vaccine rollout in Guatemala has caused discontent and frustrations among individuals, which was mainly attributed to pandemic management and alleged corruption issues.

The problem with the Latin American country's vaccine rollout was initially about getting supplies in the country. This evolved to getting doses to people before they expire, according to an Aljazeera report.

Guatemala is among the Latin American countries that lag behind vaccination efforts.

Oscar Chavez, the director of Laboratorio de Datos, said that there are political and technical reasons for Guatemala's COVID vaccine rollout problems.

Chavez said that it is a management crisis, noting that the problem was when there were no vaccines, the government did not prepare cold storage, vaccine centers, and personnel to handle the efforts.

Guatemala COVID Vaccine Rollout

Since February, the country has gotten 658,200 total vaccine doses in five shipments.

Over 90 percent of the vaccines that the country received were AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine. It also received vaccine supplies from Israel and India.

Last week, Guatemala received Sputnik V vaccine doses.

Guatemala's government procured 16 million doses from Russia for US$79.6 million.

Guatemala paid half the amount, while Russia offered to deliver 100,000 doses in the last week of April. However, the arrival of the vaccines was delayed, according to a Channel News Asia report.

The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Bureau has opened an investigation into the reported anomalies in the Sputnik V procurement process.

Monica Posada, a primary school teacher, admitted that she does not have any confidence in the government.

Health sector workers also protested from different regions to Guatemala to City.

Union leaders said that many of the issues they protested about were not resolved, which include labor rights violations and inadequate personal protective equipment.

Noemi Gonzalez, a nurse and community health union leader from the Quetzaltenango department, said that resources do not reach them.

COVID Cases

Guatemala had banned the entry of all travelers from Brazil, the United Kingdom, and South Africa after the discovery of new and more transmissible COVID variants, according to The Brazilian Report.

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei addressed the nation regarding the matter, saying that the restriction will remain in place until the end of April.

Giammattei confirmed the donation of Spain, which is equipment for five field hospitals.

Health Minister Amelia Flores said that the donated structures could hold 250 ICU beds.

Guatemala has surpassed 213,000 COVID cases and 7,200 deaths.

El Salvador has been considered to be more successful in handling the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to its neighboring countries Honduras and Guatemala.

El Salvador's president had sent 34,000 doses of COVID vaccine to seven towns in Honduras on Thursday as response to video pleas from Honduran mayors posted on social media, according to an Independent report.

President Nayib Bukele met with White House Special Envoy Ricardo Zúñiga.

Seven refrigerated trucks left El Salvador for Honduras carrying doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Amable de Jesús Hernández, mayor of San José Colinas, said in a video that the people are dying of COVID and the government does not address the issue that is why they are calling for Bukele.

WATCH: Guatemala: Moderna COVID vaccine doses donated by Israel land in the capital - from Ruptly

Tags Guatemala, COVID Vaccine rollout, Corruption