Coronavirus: Getting Venezuela Vaccinated

Per Worldometer, Venezuela has the lowest number of cases per million than any other South American country. It really isn't close. Could one make the argument it is due to a lack of testing? Sure, they've done less testing than countries such as Argentina and Brazil, but it isn't like they've done no testing. Though it looks like Venezuela isn't being impacting as badly as their other South American neighbors, at some point the virus starts to spread. And that's where discussions around what role the vaccine will play within the country. At the moment, there appears to be politics in play though they are getting some vaccines from Russia. 

POLITICS IN PLAY ABC News (Jan 22):

The socialist government of Nicolás Maduro and the U.S.-backed opposition are accusing each other of playing politics with proposals to finance United Nations-supplied vaccines — so far blocking any option from going ahead.

. . . The cash-strapped government, shut out from western banks by U.S. sanctions, has proposed selling a small part of the $2 billion Venezuela's central bank has sitting frozen in the U.K. Lawyers for Venezuela's central bank warn a “humanitarian disaster, and a potentially large loss of life" could result if the U.K. funds aren't freed up.

. . . The opposition has instead proposed tapping similarly embargoed funds it has access to in the U.S. and deploying monitors to make sure distribution of the vaccine isn't used as a cover for political patronage — a potential victory for Guaidó's faction since Maduro has effectively shut it out of power within Venezuela's borders.

The whole UK vs US frozen or embargoed funds seems like an issue of semantics. Really, this just seems like an attempt for both sides to win some psychological points. What would guarantee a resolution between these two sides is if the virus started to spread much more rapidly.

Russia to the Rescue

Reuters via Yahoo (Feb 13):

The first 100,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine arrived in Venezuela on Saturday.

In a tweet, President Nicolas Maduro said medical and health personnel would be the first to receive the vaccine, "given their exposure to COVID-19."

Russia is providing their own vaccine to Venezuela. This vaccine also requires two doses like Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. That means this is only equal to 50,000 individuals. I would think that Russia will emphasize vaccinating their own population before other countries so I suspect that Venezuela will just have to deal with limited supplies from Russia over the next few months. 

Vaccine Administration Problem

Reuters (Feb 12):

But without filling the gaps in its health infrastructure, reaching remote corners of the economically devastated country will prove difficult. That could leave pockets of isolation that undermine the global mitigation effort and boost the risk for the creation of new variants.

Cold storage facilities are operational in Caracas, but regional distribution centers in state capitals have seen extensive decay of refrigeration units, said Dr. Huniades Urbina, a pediatrician and a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Now Russia might be sending the vaccine to Venezuela, but does Venezuela have the infrastructure to administer the doses? Per Reuters (Jan 21), the Putnik V vaccine needs to be stored at -18C, basically 0F. Russia is working on a new form of the vaccine that can be stored at fridge temperatures. 

Considering how Venezuela has electricity issues, what are the chances that batches of the vaccine go bad even if the vaccine can be stored at fridge temperatures.