SHOTLIST:

1. Various of the Government Palace of Argentina from the air
2. Various of the Government Palace of Argentina
3. Various of former Minister Ginés González García speaking with journalists without a face mask
4. Various of former Minister Ginés González García speaking with journalists with face mask
5. Various of the former Minister Ginés González García (WITHOUT SOUND)
6. Various of the new Minister of Health Carla Vizzotti speaking with journalists
7. Various of vaccines delivery in Argentina
8. Various of vaccination center at Posadas hospital
9. Various of arrival of cargo with the Russian vaccine to Argentina

STORYLINE:

Late Friday President of Argentina Alberto Fernández abruptly requested the resignation of Health Minister Ginés González García after scandalous allegations he allowed friends, acquaintances and politicians to be vaccinated out of turn.

Earlier Friday, the so-called ‘VIP vaccination’ scandal emerged detailing allegations that various leading government supporters – with renowned journalist Horacio Verbitsky the best-known name – had exploited their contacts to jump the queue and get their Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine jabs earlier than they should have.

Adding weight to the claims, which Verbitsky detailed himself in an interview, it emerged that some had even received shots at the Health Ministry’s offices in downtown Buenos Aires.

The departing minister’s second-in-command, Health Secretary Carla Vizzotti, was reportedly in line to replace him, at the very least temporarily, with the La Nación newspaper claiming the news had been confirmed by inner government sources.

According to reports, the scandal infuriated the president, who immediately rang González García to demand an explanation for the misuse of Ministry offices and national resources. Upon receiving none which satisfied him, he is said to have rapidly decided that the veteran surgeon had to go, calling Cabinet Chief Santiago Cafiero to his office and ordering him to contact the minister to insist on his resignation. Cafiero complied with these instructions and it was assumed that González García would be out of the government just as soon as he had written the corresponding letter.

The scandal initially broke Friday morning when Verbitsky, 79, told El Destape Radio that he had received his Sputnik V jab at the Health Ministry following consultations with González García as to the quickest access to the vaccine.

The reaction of the radio station’s head Roberto Navarro was to discontinue Verbitsky as a columnist from El Destape.

“You will recall that some time ago I said that I would prefer to wait a few months before being vaccinated in order to see what secondary effects it might have. I was in no hurry to be vaccinated but yesterday I did it,” Verbitsky said in the initial interview.

“Having decided to get vaccinated, I set about checking out where and I called up my old pal Ginés González García, whom I have known since long before he was minister, and he told me I had to go to Posadas Hospital. Now that’s in Palomar, in the district of Morón, I think, and the Carlos Gardel shantytown is nearby. Just when I was about to set out, I got a call from the secretary of Ginés, who told me that a vaccination team was coming from the Posadas Hospital to the Ministry and that I should go there to receive the vaccine,” the journalist narrated.

Verbitsky said he then headed for the downtown Ministry (9 de Julio y Moreno) offices “where I found the vaccination team, besides which I have a fraternal relationship with the Posadas workers.”

He received his first dose on Thursday with no adverse reaction and has a second dose lined up for March 2.

The journalist and author is just one of those known to have jumped the queue, with local outlets hinting there are many more. Among other VIP beneficiaries of vaccination at the Health Ministry the names of deputy Eduardo Valdés and Senator Jorge Taiana (Frente de Todos-Buenos Aires Province) were also leaked.

In the morning interview Verbitsky further added the name of Clarin journalist José Antonio Aranda to the list of the privileged although the latter said that he did not go to the Ministry because he was prepared to wait for the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine. Aranda fiercely denied that claim later in a brief statement issued late Friday, saying that had not sought to receive a jab out of turn.