Over 100 Top Officials Were Secretly Vaccinated in Peru

The Health Ministry's commission in charge of investigating the "Vaccinegate" concluded that 470 citizens illegally received Sinopharm vaccines that arrived in Peru for clinical trials. Among them are 101 high-ranking officials.

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These people were immunized with 3,200 doses that entered the country irregularly with the help of the Health National Institute (INS).

"Over 100 officials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Health Ministry, as well as their friends, relatives, and acquaintances, were immunized as if they were part of the personnel related to the trials," the Commission's President Fernando Carbone explained.

"The 'lax and flexible' attitude of both ministries facilitated the irregular and secret vaccine administration to people outside the study," Carbone condemned.

Former Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti, who resigned from office after the scandal, is one of those involved in the Peruvian vaccinegate. 

The Investigation Commission urged the Prosecutor's Office to file a complaint against Mazzetti for committing the crime while she was in office. Authorities announced that those illegally vaccinated will be immediately removed from office if they have not yet resigned.

Last year, additional vaccines were imported from Beijing by the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University (UPCH), according to the border authorities. 

Between October and January, INS conducted seven inspections of Sinopharm's vaccine clinical trial. The records of these procedures, however, reveal that the institution did not supervise the use of this additional batch.