Vaccine tourism is replicated in Ecuador, a tour operator offers a package

Vaccine tourism to receive doses against Covid-19 is something that began in January 2021. The case of the Knightsbridge Circle club that offers its most select members luxury tourist packages to Dubai in search of immunization caused controversy. The majority of the members of the aforementioned club reside in the United Kingdom and the company made available to its clients a dream vacation package to Dubai, where the vaccination against covid-19 is also administered by private services. The tour costs approximately $60,000 for three weeks in the United Arab Emirates to walk around and get immunized. A similar vaccine tourism proposal already operates from Ecuador.

The so-called 'Tour for life' promises its clients two doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine at the Domodedovo hospital in Moscow. In addition, the package includes tickets between Russia, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates. Accommodation in four and five star hotels, buffet breakfasts, dinners in exclusive restaurants.

Entry to bio-secure shows in Moscow, Istanbul and Cappadocia are included in the tour. In Peru, trips to Chile were also offered to receive the covid-19 vaccine. However, upon learning about vaccine tourism, the Chilean Government said that those who arrive in the country with a tourist visa will not be able to be vaccinated. For epidemiologist Daniel Ruiz, vaccine tourism “fosters inequitable practices in the allocation of vaccines, favoring the elites and harming the most vulnerable groups.” In Ecuador, 42,100 vaccines have been administered.

Of these 35,886 as first doses and 6,228 as second doses, as mentioned by the new Minister of Health, Rodolfo Farfán