Uruguayan Opposition Criticizes Delays in Meningococcus Vaccination Plan

Opposition parties in Uruguay are raising concerns over alleged "failures" in the Ministry of Public Health's (MSP) meningococcus vaccination campaign. Specifically, they point to significant delays in making new appointment slots available for adolescents aged nine to 15, despite the recent arrival of 343,000 vaccine doses.

National Party deputy José Luis Satdjian criticized the situation, stating, "It cannot be that if the vaccines have been obtained, they remain in the refrigerator, when there are thousands of adolescents who want to be vaccinated and whose parents are insisting, trying to schedule them without success." He described the online scheduling system as frequently saturated, down, or completely collapsed, rejecting appointment requests.

Satdjian and other opposition figures argue that health authorities lacked foresight and sensitivity regarding the vaccination plan. They suggest that the MSP should have learned from the COVID-19 vaccination program's successes and implemented a more robust system for managing appointments and public demand. The current approach, they contend, is inefficient and places an undue burden on parents and adolescents attempting to secure vaccinations.

While the MSP cites the need for significant logistics in dose distribution and relies on the capacity of vaccination centers, Satdjian countered that this preparatory work should have been completed beforehand. He expressed frustration that vaccines are currently being stored while adolescents who need them cannot get appointments, estimating that at the current pace, full immunization could take a year. Andrés Grezzi, another National Party deputy, echoed these criticisms, calling the vaccination rollout "poorly organized and planned."