March in the Americas, a free expression round-up produced by IFEX's Regional Editor Laura Vidal, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.
Tensions in Colombia over lost COVID-19 vaccine shots
February 25, 2021
The loss of COVID-19 vaccine shots in Colombia is allegedly creating fear among healthcare workers who have been accused of being part of a fraud conspiracy.
The increased tensions followed the reported loss of more than 200 vaccine shots after their arrival in the capital Bogota and a Comptroller General Office (CGO) press release alleging fraud on Tuesday.
The CGO specified that 15 shots had gone missing in five hospitals, spurring online conspiracy theories about the “robbery” of vaccines.
The director of Medellin‘s Pablo Tobon hospital, Andres Aguirre, told Blu Radio that “our nurses are preparing the vaccines trembling” after a hostile public response to the CGO claim that three vaccine shots had gone lost from his hospital.