City tries and fails to import its own vaccines; Modern Art Museum celebrates 40 years; Cuenca registers 13,556 Covid cases, 546 deaths since March 2020

Jueves, 25/2/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

De la pagina cultural –

MMAM hace un guiño a su pasado (MMAM gives a wink to its past) – The Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno has organized two shows to celebrate its 40 years as a museum. It opened in 1981 in one of the oldest houses in Cuenca. It is preparing the Sala Azul to show the 26 paintings that were donated by Luis Crespo Ordóñez in 1981. A second show is called “Cromatopía.” Museum goers from today to el 27/2 will receive discount tickets to different businesses, primarily restaurants, around the parque San Sebastián. The museum will be open until 22:00 the first 3 days of the exhibits and the shows will run until octubre.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Piden que la cárcel de Turi sea regional (Request for Turi prison be regional) – See Thursday’s article in CHL for story,

Cuenca’s tranvia has sold almost all of the 50,000 pre-loaded fare cards it ordered in August. (El Mercurio)

Dificultades para importar vacunas (Difficulties importing vaccines) – In spite of the verbal green light that Pres. Moreno gave to municipalities to import and give vaccines directly to their populations, this possibility is still looks far away for Cuenca. <Better not cancel your flights to the US for vaccine tourism purposes.> Mayor Pedro Palacios indicated that the goal is to vaccinate 25% of the population so he is going ahead with talks with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Hoever, Pfizer and AstraZeneca have already said no to Cuenca buying vaccines since their production is already promised. Moreno had warned that pharmaceutical companies are not selling vaccines to local governments.

An expert in public purchasing said that there is a ministerial decree that restricts the import and management of vaccines solely to the Gobierno Nacional. This decree would have to be set aside and reissued to allow municipalities to do their own importing. The Mayor said that talks with Pfizer have been fruitless, but could be solved if other brands were authorized for use in Ecuador. Palacios is talking with Jhensen, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson in Chile to import from that country, but its product cannot be used in Ecuador until an international health agency approves the vaccine. Juan Carlos Zevallos, the ministerio de Salud, said there is a plan to test a Chinese vaccine on 5.000 people, and if this test is successful, this vaccine could be imported. He is in talks with Sinovac, but nothing has been signed.

Más de 17,000 contagios (More than 17,000 infections) – The Coordinación Zonal 6 de Salud confirmed that there are over 17,000 cases in Azuay since the beginning of the pandemic and numbers are rising. Cuenca has 13,556 cases. 546 people have died since marzo, 2020 and there 100 hospitalized patients with 49 in critical condition in the province.

Hoja de ruta para medicina ancestral (Roadmap for ancestral medicine) – City council delegates met with the “taitas y mamas” who practice ancestral medicine in Cuenca to regularize their work. Many work in the mercados doing cleansings and healings.

Plan para conservar las golosinas tradicionales (Plan to preserve traditional treats) – La Asociación de Comerciantes Autónomos are proposing an ordinance to avoid the disappearance of traditional treats from Cuenca such as chifles, empanadas de viento, humitas, tamales, espumilla, morocho, wood oven baked bread, caramel apples, cotton candy, artesanal ice cream, papitas, chispiolas, fruchetas, suspiros, quesadillas, arepas, roscas, alfajores, and more. <Now there’s a bucket list for you to eat your way through.> Add to that, bolones, chupetes a la antigua, maní de dulce, maní de sal, tilingos, cuchichaquis, canguil, dulce de leche, tortillas de choclo and more which are sold in urban neighborhoods, rural parishes and caseríos (farmhouses – our word for the day.)
Pablo Moncayo, an architect and researcher in cultural expressions, said that Cuenca could establish a ruta de golosinas in the centro histórico since there are already many businesses such as dulcerías (candy stores), bakeries, chocolaterías, and ice cream stores. These stores could form a circuit along with street vendors. He said directory of the golosinas should be done to preserve and incentivize their production.

48,219 tarjetas entregadas (48,219 cards delivered) – 48,219 of the Tranvía cards out of the 50,600 printed, have been issued. The cards can be purchased and recharged at the Feria Libre in the underpass, the airport, the Centro de Compras Nueve de Octubre, the Terminal Terrestre, and ETAPA on Gran Colombia y Tarqui. You can also recharge cards and buy single tickets at any of the 27 tram stops.

Llega tercer lote de vacunas de Pfizer (Third batch of Pfizer vaccines arrives) – A batch of 17,500 vaccines arrived to finish innoculating health personnel and in centros geriatricos as part of the pilot plan. From 21/1 to el pasado lunes, 24,492 doses have been administered. A public and private coalition is preparing 10,000 vaccination centers and training 2,000 professionals ahead of mass vaccinations. The program will allow 160,000 people to be vaccinated daily once vaccines become widely available. Second doses will be given to front line workers and at geratric centers in the first week of marzo.

And that´s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne