Live
Audio Only
Citizens posted information that the few vaccines available in the country had been used on VIPs close to the Moreno regime and the Ecuadorian right wing.
Ecuador's Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos Friday resigned from office amid criticism for his mismanagement of the pandemic and the uneven national vaccination campaign.
RELATED:
"I resigned due to the political situation the country is going through. My decision is irrevocable," Zevallos wrote in a letter that President Lenin Moreno shared on his Twitter account.
"Health policies will allow the vaccination campaign to advance smoothly," the official said, although only about 0.06 percent of the 9 million people his government aimed to vaccinate this 2021 have been immunized.
Zevallos' resignation occurred one month after the polemic unleashed by the vaccination of his mother and other family members in a private nursing home.
"Don't count on me to run out through the back door," he assured days after a controversy that caused the anger of health professionals, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated.
#Ecuador | The South American nation sets a new record with over 3000 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. The death toll surpasses 4700 people. pic.twitter.com/jwnHuEZVzd
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) February 24, 2021
His resignation also occurred after a scandal similar to Peru's vaccinegate. On Thursday, citizens posted information that the few vaccines available in the country had been used on VIPs close to the Moreno regime and the Ecuadorian right wing.
Among them would be journalist Diego Oquendo and politician Rodrigo Paz, both of whom are not part of the professional and age groups whose vaccination was supposedly a priority.
In late January, Attorney General's Office opened an investigation against Zevallos over an alleged crime of influence peddling during the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process.
Social organizations also pressured him to reveal the names of the people who had been vaccinated. The list of beneficiaries, however, was never released to the public.
Following the Ecuadorian vaccinegate, the Union for Hope (UNES) candidate Andres Arauz promised that guaranteeing vaccine access will be one of his first governmental acts if he is elected president next April 11.
#COVID19 figures in Ecuador are getting worse. #CoronavirusEcuador #CoronaVirusUpdate pic.twitter.com/vYUwws2mvD
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) April 24, 2020
Newsletter
