Buenos Aires, November 27 (NA) – The Chamber of Deputies became today a battlefield between two opposing visions regarding the scientific evidence on which the effectiveness of vaccines as a method of collective immunization is based and its consequences for health.
PRO national deputy Marilú Quiroz carried out the 'anti-vaccine' event, whose announcement had caused enormous controversy and a barrage of criticism and warnings from the scientific community.
As a 'counter-summit' to combat what they consider a campaign of 'malicious disinformation', national deputies Pablo Yedlin and Daniel Gollan, presidents of the Health and Science commissions respectively, organized a plenary session to vindicate vaccination policies and their positive effects on collective immunity to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
In this event, backed by scientific societies and professional associations, participated the Minister of Health of the Province of Buenos Aires, Nicolás Kreplak; the former Minister of Health of the Nation, Adolfo Rubinstein; the president of the National Immunization Commission (CoNaIn), Ángela Gentile; the president of the Latin American Society of Infectious Diseases, Roberto Debbag; and the science journalist Nora Bär, among other prominent specialists.
During the day, the experts reaffirmed that vaccination is one of the most effective and safe public health tools in Argentina, and stressed the institutional duty to support health policies based on scientific evidence.
In this regard, Yedlin stated that 'Argentina has an extensive vaccination calendar that covers the vaccination needs of babies, children, adolescents, pregnant women, adults, the elderly, and health personnel in the different stages, and the coverage rates are a concern'.
"We want a system that informs, accompanies and respects decisions," indicated the legislator in statements to which the Argentine News Agency (NA) had access. She also noted that the initiative proposes "to debate the legal responsibility of parents who decide not to vaccinate" their children.
Some of the speakers who participated in the public discussion panels were Federico Nazar, Pablo Stolkiner, Marcela Sangorrin, Oscar Botta, Mario Borini, Ramiro Salazar Cisneros, Lucía Langer, Pablo Roca, Andrés Ozols, Lorena Diblasi, Eduardo Yahbes, Andrés González Balcarce, Miguel Iannolfi, Iliana Aristeo, Viviana Lens, Xavier Huelmo, Chinda Brandolino, and José Luis Rogelio Gettor.
"This is not a concern of today, it is a concern that has always been there, but in the latest measurements, especially if one compares those of the last year, we have very low coverage," the Tucuman man warned.
For his part, Kreplaks stated that "in our country, vaccination has historically been one of the most successful health policies thanks to the National Vaccination Calendar and the high coverage achieved for decades".
"Today we see with enormous concern a sustained decline in coverage as a result of the advance of anti-vaccine speeches and the responsibility of the national government to dismantle, among other things, the immunization policy," added the minister of Axel Kicillof.
At the same time as this plenary session of commissions was taking place, the controversial 'anti-vaccine' meeting promoted by Quiroz for weeks was held.
With a full house, the auditorium of the annex to the Chamber of Deputies brought together professionals and activists who question the effectiveness of certain vaccines, especially those applied in the context of the campaign against Covid-19.
For some time now, Quiroz has been warning about the opacity in the information that the public has about the content of the coronavirus vaccine and drawing attention to possible adverse effects.
In this context, the PRO deputy asks to modify the laws that regulate vaccination to eliminate the mandatory nature in the official calendar, and presented a bill in this sense.
For her assessments on the subject, the woman from Chaco came under fire from scientific societies and a large part of the political opposition spectrum.
"It is not about being against vaccines. The project does not question vaccination as a public health tool, but its compulsive nature."
