Venezuela, which officially began vaccinating citizens at the end of May, has complained that the process was held up because the U.S. frustrated its efforts to pay for coronavirus vaccines by blocking money transfers to COVAX, a World Health Organization-led program that aims to ensure everyone in the world has access to a vaccine, Reuters reported.
Still under U.S. sanctions since 2017, Venezuela said in March that it had made almost all of the required $120 million payment for the COVAX vaccine program, particularly the Johnson & Johnson and Novavax vaccines.
In Latin America, the vaccines will be distributed through the World Health Organization’s COVAX program, created to provide vaccines to developing nations.
Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza published a letter from COVAX officials stating that four payments totaling some $4.6 million made through Swiss bank UBS had been blocked. Altogether, Venezuela says it has made 12 payments totaling more than $100 million.
UBS told Reuters that for legal and regulatory reasons it is “unable to comment on matters relating to potential client relationships.”
Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro said the country was aiming for 70 percent of its population to be vaccinated by August, when single-dose Russian Sputnik Light vaccines were due to arrive.
“I strongly call on the U.S. government to stop blocking Venezuela’s money in order to purchase vaccines (…) and speed up the immunization process of at least 70 percent of the population,” the head of state said.
Maduro said freezing the last four payments at the Swiss bank UBS was a criminal action.
Venezuela has been relying on a mix of international sources for its covid-19 vaccination campaign, mainly relying on Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine as well as China’s Sinopharm and the U.K.’s AstraZeneca supplied through the WHO-led COVAX program.
The top U.S. diplomat to Venezuela said the U.S. will not donate coronavirus vaccines to Venezuela due to the Maduro administration’s “lack of transparency”.
“It is only in this first round that Venezuela does not enter this list because it lacks transparency in the delivery of vaccines for people in need,” U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela James Story said.
Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza responded by declaring that Washington’s actions “demonstrate their continued hatred towards the Venezuelan people.”
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