An Aerolíneas Argentinas flight from China carrying a shipment of 904,000 Sinopharm vaccines arrived last night at Ezeiza International Airport.
The delivery of the vaccine doses, which arrived on an Airbus 330-200 equipped with special containers with active temperature control, was under the supervision of the Chief of Cabinet, Santiago Cafiero; the Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, and the Foreign Minister, Felipe Solá. In addition, the president of Aerolíneas Argentinas, Pablo Ceriani, and China’s Ambassador to Argentina, Zou Xiaoli were also present.
Sola stated that his “mission is to help the Minister of Health and the President to get all the vaccines possible from other countries supplying them.” “We are working really hard and we will continue to do so,” he highlighted.
The Chinese ambassador stated that “Xi Jinping and Alberto Fernández reached an important agreement regarding the vaccines, which is now tangible reality.”
“I therefore wanted to thank the Foreign and Health Ministries, and especially Foreign Minister Solá and Health Minister Vizzotti. Both embassies have made tireless efforts. The arrival of the Chinese vaccines in Argentina is a milestone,” stated Zou Xiaoli.
In addition, Ceriani was “very happy about this fifth flight we are making to bring vaccines, with a great effort made by the entire government, the Chinese government, we are really grateful, it is a partnership with the Foreign Ministry, the Health Ministry, and the President.”
Last Sunday, Vizzotti signed Ministerial Order 688/2021, authorizing as a matter of urgency the vaccine developed by Sinopharm in collaboration with China’s Beijing Institute of Biological Products.
Previously, the National Administration for Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) had recommended that the Ministry of Health include the vaccine in the Federal Immunization Campaign carried out by the Government.