Carla Vizzotti (born 1 June 1972) is an Argentine physician specialized in

vaccine-preventable diseases A vaccine-preventable disease is an infectious disease for which an effective preventive vaccine exists. If a person acquires a vaccine-preventable disease and dies from it, the death is considered a vaccine-preventable death. The most common and s ...

. She was the Secretary of Health Access and Vice Minister of Health in Argentina's

Health Ministry A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

, working under Minister

Ginés González García Ginés González García (born 31 August 1945) is an Argentine medical doctor who served twice as the country's Ministry of Health (Argentina), Minister of Health under President Alberto Fernández, from 2019 to 2021, and under the successive pres ...

, until February 2021. She has been Minister of Health since 20 February 2021, following González García's resignation.

Early life and career

Vizzotti was born on 1 June 1972 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, daughter of a

gastroenterologist Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, ...

. She studied medicine at the

Universidad del Salvador The Universidad del Salvador (USAL) is a Jesuit university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to its campus in downtown Buenos Aires, it has instructional and research facilities in Pilar, San Miguel, Bahía Blanca, and in the provinces of ...

, graduating in 1997. She specialized in internal medicine at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...

. She founded, and presides over, the Sociedad Argentina de Vacunología y Epidemiología ("Argentine Society of Vaccinology and Epidemiology"; SAVE), and has also worked at the Fundación Huésped, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

created to respond to

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

/ AIDS. From 2007 to 2016, during the successive administrations of President

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...

, she headed the

's National Directorate for the Control of Vaccine-preventable Diseases (DINACEI). During her administration, she headed the National Immunization Plan and oversaw the extension of the existing immunization registry to include 19 free and mandatory vaccines.

Political career

Secretary of Health Access

On 19 December 2019, Vizzotti was appointed to the newly established Secretariat of Health Access ( es, Secretaría de Acceso a la Salud) by Health Minister

, as part of the administration of recently elected president

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

. In 2020 Vizzotti became one of the most visible public officials in the government's response to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic. She has been tasked with giving the daily morning reports on COVID-19 statistics. In December 2020, Vizzotti headed the Argentine delegation that travelled to Russia to oversee the transportation of 300 thousand

Gam-COVID-Vac Sputnik V (russian: Спутник V, the brand name from RDIF) or Gam-COVID-Vac (russian: Гам-КОВИД-Вак, the name under which it is legally registered and produced) is an adenovirus viral vector vaccine for COVID-19 developed by ...

vaccines developed by the

Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology The Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology,russian: Национальный исследовательский центр эпидемиологии и микробиологии имени почётного академ� ...

to Argentina.

Minister of Health

Ginés González García resigned from his position as Minister of Health on 19 February 2021, following journalist

Horacio Verbitsky Horacio Verbitsky (born February 11, 1942) is an Argentine investigative journalist and author with a history as a leftist guerrilla in the Montoneros. In the early 1990s, he reported on a series corruption scandals in the administration of Pre ...

's confession that he and others had been favored by González García to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under preferential treatment, in a scandal known as the ''Vacunatorio VIP'' ("VIP vaccination room"). As Vice Minister of Health, Vizzotti was touted as the natural successor to González García. Vizzotti was appointed to the position the following day, on 20 February 2021. Sandra Marcela Tirado was appointed as Secretary of Health Access in Vizzotti's stead.

Personal life

On 26 February 2021, she tested positive for COVID-19 and went into voluntary isolation. On 28 September 2021, she underwent surgery to treat a case of

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a ru ...

References

External links

*
Profile at the website of the Ministry of Health
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vizzotti, Carla 1972 births Living people Argentine public health doctors Argentine women physicians Argentine ministers of health Women government ministers of Argentina Physicians from Buenos Aires Universidad del Salvador alumni University of Buenos Aires alumni Women public health doctors