Honduras: Bill to Purchase Cuban Vaccines Submitted to Congress

LIBRE legislator Scherly Arriaga proposed to manage the contracting and purchase of the Cuban vaccine candidate Soberana 02 for the Honduran people.

Published 30 April 2021

Opinion

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On Friday, the Honduran National Congress (Parliament) considered a bill submitted by Congresswoman Scherly Arriaga to propose the purchase of Cuba's COVID-19 vaccine Soberana 02.

"I have submitted the bill so that Honduras, through the National Congress and the Health Commission, begins to contract Cuba's vaccine Soberana through a strict oversight process by civil society," the legislator from the Liberty and Refoundation Party (LIBRE) posted on her Twitter account.

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Arriaga also posted a video on Twitter in which she criticized the work to date by the Government of President Juan Orlando Hernandez, which "has been unable to manage, administer or initiate contracts to purchase the COVID-19 vaccine efficiently and transparently."

The congresswoman said that for that reason, she submitted the bill in Congress on Thursday to purchase the so-called Soberana vaccine, developed by Cuba's renowned biopharmaceutical industry.

Vacuna SOBERANA para HN.
He presentado el proyecto de Ley para que Honduras a través del CN y la comisión de Salud incie un proceso de contratación de la vacuna SOBERANA de Cuba mediante un proceso estricto de veeduria de la Sociedad civil @cnahonduras @fosdeh @ColegioMedicoHN pic.twitter.com/rcNF8PMUQe
— Diputada Scherly Arriaga (@_Scherly) April 29, 2021

The LIBRE lawmaker proposes to manage the contracting and purchase of the Cuban vaccine through the Parliamentary Health Commission, with strict oversight by civil society and accompanied by the National Anticorruption Council.

Honduras is currently the slowest country in Central America regarding vaccination against the disease that has caused the current pandemic; according to a leading public health foundation, it would take Honduras at least 11 years, if it continued at the current rate, to immunize its entire population.