Caracas, June 14 (RHC)-- The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas-People's Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP), denounced this Sunday that the economic, financial and commercial blockade against Venezuela prevents the South American country from accessing the purchase of vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The document issued by the member countries of the bloc points out that "the arbitrary blockade carried out by a financial institution" (the Swiss Bank UBS) has prevented Venezuela from paying ten million dollars to the Covax mechanism coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to purchase vaccines.

From Covax, the Venezuelan Government was notified that this amount, destined to complete the 120 million corresponding to the country's commitments with said entity, in addition to having been blocked was under investigation, to which the Venezuelan Executive Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, expressed: "With this action, no one can deny that these unilateral coercive measures are criminal."

ALBA-TCP states: "This illegal action is a consequence of the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the Government of the United States, and its effects on the financial sector threaten the welfare, health, security and right to life of the peoples."

Covax points out that since April 13, 109,968,081.82 dollars have been received, distributed in 12 transactions, leaving 10,031,838.18 pending, which were transferred by the Government and blocked by the bank, preventing their arrival to the mechanism.  Such maneuvers are aimed at promoting a regime change and the overthrow of a constitutional, legal and legitimately elected government by the will of the people and in the exercise of their self-determination, the text pointed out.

Meanwhile, last Friday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro demanded from his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, the release of the money for the vaccines, as well as the remaining financial restrictions, and expects that, if the established deadlines are met, the Covax vaccines -some more than 11 million doses- should arrive in Venezuela between July and August.

In addition, last week, the Bolivarian Government and the Russian pharmaceutical company Gerofarm signed an agreement for the shipment of 10 million doses of EpiVacCorona, as part of a massive vaccination process which, in the midst of so many obstacles, is expected to have 70 percent of the population immunized by December.