With more than 17 million inhabitants with their complete scheme, the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in the country is described as one of the most successful. In fact, according to the latest figures published in Our World in Data, Chile is the fourth country with the most people vaccinated against the coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants, after the United Arab Emirates, Portugal and Cuba. Of course, the country ranks first in the world regarding the application of booster doses.
And one of the key figures in achieving these levels of immunization was Cecilia González Caro, the now former head of the National Immunization Program (PNI).
The specialist arrived at the Ministry of Health in 2012, as an advisor. And at the end of 2017 she assumed the leadership of the PNI, where It remained until June 30.
González was a key authority in carrying out the immunization campaign, as he participated in everything from obtaining supplies to coordinating vaccination at the country level and evaluating its subsequent effects on the population.
For this reason, at the end of last year they pointed her out as one of the figures of the portfolio that would continue after the change of administration, since the idea of now President Gabriel Boric was to keep technical officials in charge of managing the pandemic in their posts to provide security and continuity. However, González did not manage to spend more than two months in his position before going on vacation, to later take advantage of the retirement incentive.
In December they pointed her out as one of the technical figures that she would continue in the ministry, why did she leave?
Despite what the president said, even in his speech, that the technicians were not going to move, the PNI took on such great relevance, it is so strategic that the possibility of bringing someone trusted and with political affinity was opened up. When you turn 60, you can apply for a retirement incentive and I had done it the previous year, in 2020, and you can also reject it if you win it. I won it, but at the beginning of 2021 I rejected it and last year in October I won it again and I did not reject it at that time because I thought there were many things to do in the PNI, I was quite convinced that it was going to continue, but I had this intuition that because of how strategic the department is, maybe they would kick me out.
Why did you decide to take it?
In March we had a meeting with the Undersecretary of Public Health, Cristóbal Cuadrado, which was not very good for us, because he told us that we did not give the width. Then on another occasion, a person from the undersecretary’s cabinet told me that he was going to be a liaison between our department and the undersecretary to build trust. The message of that decision is that there was no trust in our work, and the authorities also have the right to appoint the people they think are most appropriate, whether due to political or technical trust.
What was the task of the link figure?
His task was to know our processes, supervise that things were done and inform the undersecretary so that he would be calm. It was a new charge.
Did you have experience in the area?
He is a civil engineer. They told me that he was cool, that he knew about processes.
Did you have any differences with the undersecretary on the management of vaccines?
I did not manage to have differences. When he says that we don’t go overboard, he had to do with a shipment of syringes to be used with the Moderna vaccine, which had to arrive on a certain date. We bought these syringes in January, but all the purchasing processes take months, because they come from China by ship. The port of Shanghai closed in March, so the syringes that were supposed to arrive in April did not arrive and we were notified a few days before. There he calls us Cuadrado and tells us how it is possible, how we do not have a plan B and that we did not give the width. At that moment I told him: what a pity that he did not know the process, maybe that was where my mistake was. Buying supplies is complex, it is not easy, because it is a process that takes time and has to go to bidding.
When did you go on vacation?
The first of May. I had almost 60 days of accumulated vacation. At this meeting at the end of April, when he tells me that I am going to have a liaison person, I told my boss that I did not need an intermediary and that under these conditions I did not need to continue. There I took my vacations and when I came back I was going to return to my office to make a formal delivery of my position and then I was going to take early retirement. While on vacation I found out that my office was occupied and that someone had arrived.
Maria Paz Bertoglia?
Exact. So when I came back I talked to my boss and told him that under these conditions I wasn’t going to come back, because I no longer had an office and I wasn’t going to sit anywhere if I was the boss. Until June 30 I was the official boss. I asked my boss to make a delivery with my team, a formal delivery of my position. I did it on June 17 with the whole team, and María Paz was also there. I made the delivery 15 days before, but I was the boss until last Thursday. I don’t know what figure they put her in, I imagine it was an honorary contract, but I don’t know.
Do you think his departure was political?
We lived through the worst pandemic of the last 100 years and we did a spectacular job, recognized by the whole world, so it shouldn’t be management, it could be because they don’t like me or because it bothered them that I said “what a shame you don’t know about the process shopping”. I think it has to be political. I arrived at the Minsal in 2012 as an advisor, then at the end of 2017 I became head of the department. I was 10 years in the Minsal and my management was never questioned, that’s why I think it was rather political, to have someone of political confidence in a position in a department that is strategic.
How do you evaluate the new health management?
I feel that from the communicational point of view it has not been neat. Telling people that they can take off their mask, but they still have to go get vaccinated, are messages that do not go together. You have to insist that you have to get vaccinated, but communication has disappeared. Before there were press outlets, the minister would talk about vaccines and now the few press outlets that I have seen are not so emphatic about vaccination. For me, what has not been up to par is the communication part.
How was your relationship with the minister?
We met when I was doing the pediatrics scholarship, I was in the third year and she was in the first, she had come from Cuba. She was very kind and caring when I handed over to the new management in March and she complimented me. After they informed me that she was going to have an intermediary, I went to talk to her and told her that I was leaving for this reason. She said that she couldn’t leave me, that she wanted to work with me and she told me to give her a few days to see what she could do, but then we never spoke again, she stuck to her decision.
For 8 years she was the medical director of the GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceutical Limited laboratory. El Mostrador pointed out that there were conflicts of interest because the Minsal bought vaccines from this laboratory, while you were head of department.
In 2012 I arrived at the Minsal as an advisor. Before that I worked three years at GlaxoSmithKline and I left, because I wanted to leave. What they point to as a conflict of interest are some purchases of vaccines from 2019, at that point I had already been out of the laboratory for seven years. In addition, a report by a lawyer requested by the Minsal ruled out the conflict of interest.