Venezuela refuses to authorise AstraZeneca vaccine

Venezuela's Vice President announced on Wednesday that the nation will stand by a decision to not authorise the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine in the country.

Delcy Rodriguez said that the country's presidential scientific commission had "decided not to include it" as an approved vaccine.

However, the vice president stated that she expected Venezuela would choose which vaccines it would receive from COVAX, a mechanism setup by the United Nations to facilitate equitable access to immunisation.

She also said that she had told representatives of the Pan American Health Organization on March 15 that Venezuela did not want to be given the Astrazenenca vaccine.

Rodriguez's statement came a day after Ciro Ugarte, PAHO's Director of Health Emergencies, indicated that the vaccines planned for Venezuela are AstraZeneca's.

Venezuela - which has expressed its willingness to consider "all the vaccine candidates they have" and that it will choose the vaccine "based on the scientific sovereignty" of the country - had previously declined to authorise the use of AstraZeneca, citing reports of negative effects in some people after being inoculated.

It was not clear whether the decision will represent a new obstacle for Venezuela to have access to COVAX vaccines.

During her address on Wednesday, Rodriguez also demanded that Venezuela be given access to more than 7 billion dollars of its funds which remains blocked in foreign banks.

She said the money would help pay "for vaccine supply for the Venezuelan people."