Corruption complicates Paraguay's COVID-19 fight

Paraguay has taken an unusual and extreme step in its fight against COVID-19. To protect the integrity of its vaccination campaign from endemic corruption, the country decided to publish the names of every individual who receives a dose.

Publication of the vaccination database is an attempt by the government to ensure the transparency of Paraguay's vaccination program and prevent attempts to jump the queue.

"The government decided to reassure (people of) the transparency of the vaccination campaign to reduce the political risk of an eventual mismanagement of the vaccines, as it happened in Argentina, for example," Daniel Mendonca, a constitutional lawyer in Asuncion, the capital, told China Daily.

Mendonca was consulted by the government on the constitutional aspects of the move.

"(The mechanism) allows for the effective control of those receiving the shots. The form filled in and signed by people receiving the jab is a public document, in which data such as ID number, address and signature is collected," he said.

The issue is particularly serious in Paraguay, with the country struggling to contain the pandemic and having had little access to COVID-19 vaccines.

"The situation in Paraguay is not easy at all. The death toll in the country is really high. We are leading the region with the number of deaths per million people, surpassing Uruguay, which was in first place, and the situation is worrying everyone, since vaccination figures are really low," Sandra Ocampos, who is pursuing a master's degree in public health at the Ibero-American University of Paraguay, told China Daily.

More than 13,500 people have died from the novel coronavirus in Paraguay, which has a population of about 7 million. The country reported the most daily deaths per million people in the world at the turn of the month. Cumulatively, Paraguay stands only behind the United States and the United Kingdom for total deaths per million people since the pandemic started.

On June 27, 152 people died from COVID-19 in the country and the numbered dropped to 106 deaths on July 8.

According to official data, only 6.8 percent of the population has received at least one shot of a vaccine.

"The pace of vaccination is slow. Paraguay did not have effective access to vaccines. Despite (the hurdles), the vaccination (program is now making progress)," Mendonca said.

However, Romy Fischer, a lawyer advocating for data protection transparency and access to public information in Asunción, said, "the publication of the names of those vaccinated is unconstitutional".

"It is allowed to publish non-individualized data for scientific or statistical purposes, but not as the (government) does with name and surname and ID number. The same law defines as sensitive data the one related to health," she said.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, local authorities warned that almost 100 people that did not belong to prioritized groups had jumped the queue.

Neighboring countries, like Argentina and Peru, have been hit by similar scandals involving people close to government officials or even public officials themselves. This is a situation that Paraguay's President Mario Abdo wants to address in his country.

Shortly after Paraguay launched its database of vaccinations, 73-year-old congresswoman Mirta Gusinky had to quit her post after it became clear she had jumped the queue.

According to the Ministry of Health, 500 people are being investigated for jumping the queue to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

"It is a situation that is no less serious, since vaccination represents an extremely precious element and up to the last instance it will be protected so that it reaches the people established according to the vaccination phase," said Hector Castro, head of Paraguay's Expanded Immunization Program, during a press conference.

The country has not received as many vaccines as it was expecting from the multilateral COVAX initiative. Instead, countries like the United Arab Emirates stepped in and shipped some 250,000 doses of BBIBP-CorV, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm Group, to help the country to move forward with its own vaccination campaign. China and Paraguay do not have diplomatic ties.

"The COVAX mechanism was our hope, and we were expecting a considerable number of vaccines through that mechanism," said Ocampos.

The country has received about 170,000 vaccines from the COVAX mechanism, out of the 4 million doses purchased.

"There is an abysmal difference between what was expected and what has arrived. Fortunately, we've received donations from other countries," Ocampos said. Qatar also donated a shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.

Paraguay is not only battling a vaccine shortage but also vaccine hesitancy.

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Health found that 79 percent of older people were skipping vaccination appointments or did not have transportation to get to vaccination posts. In turn, 14 percent expressed fears of adverse effects or simply did not trust vaccines, and 8 percent said they were willing to get a shot but only after a while.