VENEZUELA SLAMS US FOR BLOCKING ITS PAYMENTS FOR COVAX VACCINES

Venezuelan officials said the country's government has been unable to complete a payment required to receive coronavirus vaccines because transfers to the global COVAX vaccine program had been blocked, Reuters reported.

The government of President Nicolas Maduro for months said it was unable to pay for the COVAX program because of US sanctions, and then in March announced that it had made almost all the required $120 million payment.

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez in a televised broadcast on Thursday said the government had been unable to pay down the remaining $10 million because four operations had been blocked.

"The financial system that also hides behind the US lobby, has the power to block resources that can be used to immunize the population of Venezuela," Rodriguez said.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza later tweeted a copy of a letter from COVAX saying it had received information from Swiss bank UBS that four operations, totaling $4.6 million, "were blocked and under investigation."

It was not immediately evident who blocked the operations or why. UBS, when asked for comment, said that for legal and regulatory reasons it is "unable to comment on matters relating to potential client relationships."

COVAX did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The COVAX letter notes Venezuela has expressed interest in the Johnson & Johnson and Novavax vaccines.

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