The Progress of COVID-19 Vaccination in Lebanon & Peru – Foreign Policy Youth Collaborative

The Progress of COVID-19 Vaccination in Lebanon

In the midst of political upheaval, misinformation, mistrust, and skyrocketing COVID-19 infections, Lebanon has a lot of gaps to close while receiving its first batch of vaccines. With a history full of corruption and perversion, it is hard for the Lebanese people to place trust in their government and in their vaccination programs.

Everything big or small, took an unexpected turn during this pandemic. People are moving through bits and pieces of what once have been and have not been, picking up missing pieces of themselves and of their surroundings, trying to find meaning in their sorrows.

While feelings like grief are already distressing as well as confusing to process, they can be even more burdening during COVID-19, especially because of the restrictions imposed by the government. Close to death, but far from people. Emotional disconnection is hard, but being left alone with our feelings is even harder.

Fortunately, science has evolved and has allowed researchers to develop vaccines and treat the disease. This has brought back light to our gloomiest days, and hope in what’s to come. Even though the distribution of vaccines brings its own set of challenges, it’s a battle worth fighting. Taking the COVID-19 vaccine is a way of protecting oneself as well as doing one’s part in a humanity-led movement.

It is undeniable that Lebanon is a country whose history is rooted in centuries of confessionalism, corruption, and deeply-entrenched favouritism. After multiple upheavals, the Lebanese Revolution, the Beirut blast on the fourth of August 2020, and a terrifying wave of COVID-19 infections, the Lebanese people’s force and resilience has depleted. So, it is not dubious that Lebanon has to heavily rely on external help in order to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

On Saturday, the 13 of February, hope was restored. 28,500 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech out of 2.1 million doses were set to arrive in 2021, and had landed at Beirut airport. As announced, front-line healthcare workers and the elderly are considered a priority and will be the first to be vaccinated. In the first stage, those over the age of 75 will be vaccinated, followed by those over 65 and then those over 54 suffering from underlying health conditions. However, not every Lebanese person puts trust in this statement because transparency and fairness have never been part of their daily lives.

On the 23rd of February, a vaccine scandal unfolded. The members of the parliament were inoculated despite having several members under the age of 75. Caretaker and health minister Hamad Hassan claimed that the vaccines were considered a gift in appreciation of the MPs’ efforts. This incident instigated a lot of Lebanese people to unleash their anger on social media, which was considered a dramatic and exaggerated response, reassuring the public that the vaccines will eventually reach everyone and that politicians will not be favorited. To ensure that, the World Bank contracted the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFCR) to monitor the campaign and make sure everyone gets vaccinated. According to plan, there will be 42 designated vaccination centers.

Another problem impeding progress in vaccination programs is the low registration of refugees who make up for 1.5 million of the 6 million residents of Lebanon’s Human Rights Watch’s.

Lebanon and Bahrain researcher Aya Majzoub explained that this may be caused by “the lack of awareness, or a lack of trust in the process.” It is crucial for the refugees to be part of the process since most of them live in “crowded conditions or take care of the elderly.”

Moreover, there is a huge number of people who glean their information from untrusted sources like the internet, instead of asking experts. Their main argument is fear: Fear of taking the vaccine because the side effects may be dangerous… But the truth is that not taking it poses even more danger upon themselves and upon the global community, spreading even more fear and despair. People are doing their part in encouraging vaccination by posting on their social media, educating their families and sending hopeful messages. Journalists are also interviewing experts in order to present science-backed evidence and encourage people to take the vaccine. No one is safe until everyone is safe.

The Progress of COVID-19 Vaccination in Peru

History cannot lie: Peru has suffered a leadership crisis plenty of times. Our history has been stained with corruption and the vaccines against COVID-19 were not going to be the exception —a case denominated by the media as “Vacunagate”. Almost a year has passed since the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the country. On February 7th, landed the plane with the 300,000 doses of the first batch of vaccines from the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm. On February 13th, landed the remaining 700,000 doses.

While the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other countries began massive vaccinations against COVID-19, in Peru there was no defined date for the arrival of the first doses. Our country closed in 2020, full of uncertainty, without dates or clear amounts for the arrival of the coronavirus vaccine. This uncertainty ended at the beginning of January when the first contract signed by the government of Francisco Sagasti was with the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm: which stipulates the purchase of 38 million doses to be delivered throughout this year. However, the population was not content. Why was the government purchasing one of the most expensive vaccines on the market?

Between August and December 2020, the negotiations were in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In September, there was a preliminary agreement with the US company Pfizer. Nevertheless, at the end of December, it was reported that it had not been possible to finalize a contract. In mid-December, President Sagasti tried to resume negotiations with Pfizer, but the multinational responded that Peru had lost its priority. With the political crisis in November due to the vacancy of Martin Vizcarra, the political instability that the country experienced —having three presidents in a week— had an effect on the purchase and negotiation of the vaccines.

The national vaccination campaign began when the first batch of Sinopharm arrived. The Peruvian vaccination plan consists of three phases. The first to receive vaccines are medical staff and front-line workers. This group also includes personnel from the Armed Forces, Firefighters, Red Cross, polling station members in the upcoming elections, and more. Recently, it was announced by the Deputy Public Health Minister that adults aged 60 years and over will be included in phase one of the vaccination process against COVID-19 (at the beginning, they were in phase two) Nevertheless, this was an action that was totally necessary to protect one of the most vulnerable groups in this pandemic. Now, phase two includes people with comorbidity, the population of native or indigenous communities, National Penitentiary Institute staff, and people deprived of liberty. The last phase is composed of people from 18 to 59 years old.

Despite all the efforts of the Peruvian government to receive the vaccines, a survey conducted by Ipsos Peru in January the results show that 48% of people do not want to be vaccinated with the free doses that the Ministry of Health would release against COVID-19. This is due to the skepticism around the vaccine and false rumours being spread through easily accessible technological means.. The most famous rumours that are still in circulation are that Bill Gates is behind a plan to implant traceable microchips through the vaccines, the alteration of DNA in our body after the injection of the dose, the use of lung tissue from aborted fetuses for the manufacture of the vaccine, and it has even been questioned about the need for the vaccine if the chances of dying from the virus are so low, suggesting that getting COVID-19 is safer than getting vaccinated. These four false rumors have been properly denied by experts on the field.

The vaccination campaign in Peru —and Latin America — has been overshadowed by corruption cases involving influential people who accessed vaccines long before most of the population, people who put their own interests above instead of looking after the health of citizens: Vaccines that could have been used to save the lives of doctors and nurses. Some of the people who are a part of this scandal are former president Martin Vizcarra, who was vaccinated in October before his impeachment. He claimed that he was part of the group of volunteers in testing vaccinations, however, the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia denied his version. Vizcarra not only got vaccinated but managed to extend this “benefit” to his wife and brother. His actions have been like a dagger in the back towards Peruvian people.

Apart from Vizcarra, other names in this privileged list of 487 officials include former Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti and Foreign Affairs Minister Elizabeth Astete who have both resigned from their positions. The former stated that she would be the last person of the health sector to receive the vaccine. The irony? She was already vaccinated. In the list also appears names such as Alberto Fujimori’s family doctor, Antonio Aguinaga, the apostolic nuncio Nicola Girasoli, the husband of a congresswoman, Mazzetti’s driver, the rectors of the San Marcos and Cayetano Heredia universities, relatives of the doctors who participated in the clinical trial, study personnel, among many others.

Francisco Sagasti stated that people who have abused their influence to get vaccinated are being investigated for crimes against the public administration. In a time where indignation is flooding the country, there is a ray of hope that continues to gain strength. The President of the Council of Ministers, Violeta Bermúdez, announced that the government concluded contracts with laboratories for the acquisition of 48.2 million vaccines against COVID-19 that would arrive throughout 2021. This was possible through the result of agreements with the laboratories Sinopharm, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, andthe Covax Facility mechanism. It is the government’s duty to ensure that the vaccine reaches every corner of the country.

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Written by: Gheed El Bizri & Ariadna Condezo