These are the conditions for private individuals to buy vaccines against covid-19

This Monday, April 5, the draft of a resolution of the Ministry of Health in which sets the conditions so that private parties can purchase, negotiate and import vaccines against covid-19 to Colombia.

In the document, The Health Ministry says that imported biologicals must have a sanitary authorization for emergency use issued by the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance, Invima.

Likewise, employers who wish to be part of the process have to guarantee that the vaccines are applied in different clinics, hospitals or spaces and that they have the vaccination service enabled. In addition, this should not intervene in the execution process of the National Vaccination Plan.

They will also have to guarantee that the conditions of conservation of the vaccines are indicated, have an all-risk policy and that the application of the biological strictly follows the guidelines established by the Ministry of Health.

“The private parties will have to assume not only the import and biological costs, but also the costs of the application and the responsibilities derived from it; as well as guaranteeing the prior and individual completion of the informed consent; and establish the procedure, register and assume the costs of the registration of people vaccinated with imported biologics in the Paiweb 2.0 platform “says the draft resolution.

It also clarifies that the private sector will not be able to use the operational capacity of the National Vaccination Plan, but rather use another alternative network to the existing one.

Likewise, the places where the vaccine would be applied must be authorized by the health secretariats.

The departments and districts, within the framework of their powers, will monitor compliance with the storage conditions, as well as the requirements for their distribution and application.

An important point is that the process must be carried out free of charge for the beneficiaries of the application of the biological, which would prevent people from buying doses as individuals.

People under private law who negotiate and acquire vaccines against Covid-19 with resources of a private nature, will be directly responsible for the terms of the negotiation and for the commitments that are acquired as a result of it.

Insurers will have to attend to patients who present adverse events after the application of the vaccine. By last, The document highlights that private companies will not be able to purchase vaccines above the prices resulting from the centralized negotiations of the Government.

This is the complete document:

The draft will be available for consultation until next Friday, April 9. The procedure that follows is the reception of comments that will be analyzed so that the resolution is final.

The private ones have been asking for weeks The government gives them a track to import biologicals and thus contribute to the National Vaccination Plan. It remains to be seen if the proposed conditions are viable for these.

Entrepreneurs, according to a survey revealed by AmCham Colombia, will allocate resources for the purchase of vaccines, which would be applied free to their workers and even some they would extend the benefit to their families.