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By Raul Cortes
MEXICO CITY, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Argentine President Alberto
Fernández was on the defensive on Tuesday over a "VIP" vaccine
scandal that has roiled the South American country, and said
more heads could roll if people were found to have used their
position to get inoculated.
The scandal has already led to the resignation of Health
Minister Ginés González García after some people close to the
government got early access to vaccines, putting pressure on
Fernandez's center-left government as it rolls out its vaccine
program.
"To your question of whether I am going to ask for more
resignations, look, if there are more responsible, those who
have to leave will have to go," Fernández said at a news
conference during a visit to Mexico.
Fernandez added that he had never endorsed the vaccination
of people connected to government, but criticized the fierce
response of his opponents and critics as "clowning."
Since the scandal emerged last week, the government has
posted a list of those inoculated, many of whom it said were
officials given vaccines due the needs of their functions. It
also included some family members of prominent politicians.
Argentina's new health minister Carla Vizzotti has pledged
greater transparency over vaccines, while the Attorney for
Administrative Investigations has opened a file to look into
whether there were any abuses of power.
The country's Cabinet chief Santiago Cafiero on Twitter
defended the president and said he had "acted quickly" on the
matter. "He disapproved of what was done wrong and corrected it
to make the vaccination plan transparent," he said.
With a population of about 45 million, Argentina has so far
received 1.22 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine from the
Russian Gamaleya Institute and 580,000 doses of the Covishield
vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca
and manufactured by the Indian Serum Institute.
(Reporting by Raúl Cortés in Mexico City; Editing by Adam
Jourdan and Bill Berkrot)
