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Maduro to Be First Venezuelan to Get Vaccinated against COVID-19

reporter 1222 — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 12:07:21 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he’ll be the first to get vaccinated when a COVID-19 vaccine arrives in the country.

“I am pleased that Russia will be the first country in the world to vaccinate its population”, Maduro said in a televised speech on Sunday, Sputnik reported.

“There will be a time when we all get vaccinated and the first to be vaccinated is me. I’m going to get the vaccine, I’m going to set an example”, he added.

Maduro said the government would then vaccinate healthcare workers, elderly people, and those with health conditions.

He went on to accuse the United States of blocking supplies of medicine to Venezuela, singling out Donald Trump’s special envoy, Elliott Abrams.

“They persecute us”, he added. “We are going to buy medicines against the coronavirus and they persecute us, they call the company and tell them, ‘Don’t sell the vaccine to Venezuela’”.

Last Tuesday, Russia became the first country to register a vaccine against the coronavirus. The vaccine, called Sputnik V and developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya research institute, uses two strains of the adenovirus – which typically causes mild colds – to trigger an immune response.

Sputnik V promises to help people develop immunity against COVID-19 for two years. Health workers are the first to be vaccinated and a national roll-out is scheduled for January 2021.

Russia’s sovereign wealth fund (RDIF) said it had received preliminary applications for more than 1 billion doses of the vaccine from 20 countries

Sergei Melik-Bagdasarov, Russia’s ambassador to Venezuela, said last week that the Maduro government has shown interest in acquiring the vaccine.

He stressed, however, that it is too soon yet to name a specific timeframe for delivery because unilateral US sanctions stall the process.

Venezuela on Sunday reported 1,148 new coronavirus cases and 5 new deaths, bringing the total number of infected patients to 33,755 and the total death toll to 281, according to government figures.

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Venezuelan Gov. Quarantine States, Caracas Included

reporter 1222 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 09:09:12 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered on Sunday a “collective quarantine” in seven states, including the capital Caracas, from Monday to stem the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic.

All activities in the seven states are to be suspended from 5:00 am on Monday, except food distribution, health services, transport and security, Maduro said in a television address to his crisis-devastated nation where the economy had already collapsed long before the pandemic struck, AFP reported.

“It’s not a collective vacation, no. It’s a collective quarantine that deserves great social discipline, great self-control,” said Venezuelan President, adding that it meant people should stay “at home.”

Caracas alone is home to six million people.

This latest measure to combat the global pandemic comes after Maduro previously banned flights to and from Europe, Colombia, Panama and the Dominican Republic, as well as a suspending school and university classes, and sports events.

Venezuela reported seven new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, taking its total to 17.

Maduro said the quarantine was “the only way, there’s no other option.”

The socialist leader has said his response was inspired by that of China, one of Venezuela’s main commercial allies.

China put tens of millions of people under lockdown to help contain the spread of the virus, which has affected more than 80,000 Chinese and killed more than 3,000.

“The only way to contain the channels of transmission is to enter in a drastic phase of collective quarantine throughout the country,” said Maduro.

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Venezuela to address UN Security Council over US blockade threat: Maduro

reporter 1222 — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 11:10:21 +0000

“All of Venezuela, in a civic-military union, repudiates and rejects the statements of Donald Trump about a supposed quarantine, a supposed blockade,” Maduro said adding that Venezuelan seas would remain “free and independent.” The Venezuelan president said he had asked the country’s ambassador to the United Naitons Samuel Moncada to denounce the US threats to the UN Security Council, Tass News Agency reported.

Venezuela faces a massive economic crisis which is further exacerbated by US sanctions. In a letter to UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Maduro said that the United States stripped Venezuela of its oil assets worth $30 bln. Moreover, over $7 bln in banks meant for purchasing food and medicines, were frozen or seized, Maduro added. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry described US sanctions as “economic terrorism” that “deprives Venezuelan people of their right to have access to food.”

Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and speaker of the National Assembly, whose appointment to that position had been canceled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital, Caracas, on January 23. On the same day, the United States recognized him as an interim president, and the countries of the Lima Group (excluding Mexico) and the Organization of American States followed suit. Venezuela’s incumbent President Nicolas Maduro blasted the move as an attempted coup and announced cutting diplomatic ties with the United States.

Most European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.

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