Asunción, IP Agency.- The Paraguayan Government rejected the late delivery of anti-covid vaccines raised by the Covax mechanism. The government demanded a refund of the disbursement made during the coronavirus pandemic. If an agreement is not reached, the Attorney General’s Office will resort to international arbitration, they announced.
During a press conference this Friday in the Presidential Residence Mburuvicha Róga, the Ministry of Public Health, María Teresa Barán and the General Attorney of the Republic, Marco Aurelio González, claimed the Paraguayan’s Government posture about the negotiations with the Covax mechanism.
“We have a firm position regarding the Covax mechanism, which is why we sent a note to state the position of the State and the Paraguayan population. We understand that Covax, in the event of a breach on its part, cannot demand compensation from us”, said General Attorney González.
He stated that the Paraguayan position is based on the fact that the Ministry of Public Health did not receive the vaccines agreed by the mechanism when it was most needed to protect the Paraguayan population, a point that aggravated the country’s health situation. “The Covax mechanism was a failure,” regretted the General Attorney.
The Minister of Public Health, María Teresa Barán, stated, in the same sense, that Paraguay trusted Covax to obtain vaccines in the face of an unprecedented health emergency and received a late and insufficient response from this mechanism.
“Today, after the health emergency, they offer to deliver all the vaccines at the wrong time, which are more than three million doses, which would cause greater expenses for their final disposal, for which the Ministry of Health decided to reject them,” said Barán.
Barán criticized Covax’s inefficiency in the face of such a critical global emergency, resulting in the loss of human lives and causing much pain to Paraguayan families. “It is unacceptable that Covax wants to force us to receive those vaccines” she said.
The General Attorney finally clarified that Paraguay is open to dialogue and negotiate but based on an alternative that respects the rights of all Paraguayans. At the same time, he considered that the measures imposed by Covax were unfair and abusive.
“If through this path we do not achieve the results, we are willing to reach the pertinent level to uphold the rights of all Paraguayans,” she said.
“We will do our best to open up to dialogue under fair conditions. We send the note of the position of the Paraguayan State, and that we are also willing to meet where they consider it best,” explained the General Attorney, specifying that if an agreed outcome is reached, the date is set on the 14th of September.
“We demand a fair and logical solution with the return of the money. We understand that there are powerful, solid legal positions for the Paraguayan position to prevail,” emphasized González.
Background of the case
In October 2020, Paraguay paid more than six million dollars to the Covax Mechanism for a batch of four million doses of anti-covid vaccines, of which it only received one million.
Minister Barán recalled, “Paraguay signed a contract, which was quite leonine against our country, and that is why we are faced with this situation.”
She pointed out that the Government has a “moral obligation to defend the entire Paraguayan population, especially in the face of those Paraguayan families that were left without any of their members.”
On the other hand, the General Attorney revealed that all his energies are devoted to negotiation and considered that they have all the legal arguments to make the rights of the Paraguayan population prevail.
In the event of an adverse result, those involved in signing the contract will be held accountable, he announced.