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The scandal grows in Peru by members of the government who received doses of the coronavirus vaccine without communicating it and when the formal vaccination campaign had not yet started. The last resignation was of the chancellor, Elizabeth Astete for this matter.
Vaccination against the coronavirus in Peru uncovered a shameful practice among officials: take advantage of their position to obtain benefits. Peru is one of the Latin American countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 40,000 deaths and more than 1.24 million cases of coronavirus and although it is not yet clear when the bulk of the population will be vaccinated, it turns out that many politicians they have already been vaccinated, sparking popular outrage.
Interim President Francisco Sagasti was informed of the events and immediately ordered that all government officials who have received Sinopharm vaccines be removed from their positions and ordered an internal investigation.
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“I really feel outraged and furious about this situation that endangers the enormous effort of many Peruvians who work on the first line of defense against covid-19,” Sagasti said during an interview with América Televisión’s “Cuarto Poder” program. .
“It is really something that I still cannot understand or understand. how is it possible that some officials have not taken this situation into account or into consideration, “added the president.
Politicians vaccinated
Chancellor Elizabeth Astete resigned on Sunday night after it became known that she received the vaccine several days ago, when it was uncertain when the population would be immunized. “I have presented to the President of the Republic my letter of resignation from the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs,” Astete said in a statement posted on his Twitter account, in which he admitted that it was a “grave mistake” to have been vaccinated on January 22.
It is not the only case. Elizabeth Astete is the second minister to fall in a case that can splatter many other officials. Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti also resigned on Friday for the same reason.
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According to the Minister of Health, Óscar Ugarte, the Government opened an investigation into the alleged “unofficial” vaccination carried out by senior officials, who have reached a series of agreements with pharmaceutical companies to immunize surreptitiously.
”This is a batch of vaccine that is not part of the research, it is a separate batch, which is a donation and which has been handled with a criterion of free will and not under rules that should have been made because there are priorities as has been defined by the Ministry of Health, these priorities would have started with this batch, but there has been another criterion that must be determined, both by quantity and by whom have been applied ”, he explained on the radio.
The minister affirmed that between 15 and 20 may be the protagonists of the vaccination scandal with doses of the Chinese company Sinopharm. Already several vice ministers have resigned.
Splashed ex-president
The storm hits former president Martín Vizcarra, who was fired last year for “moral incapacity.” According to an Ecuadorian newspaper, the former official was vaccinated in October, weeks before he was removed by Congress in a whirlwind impeachment trial.
Peruvian media said that the national prosecutor, Zoraida Ávalos, opened a “preliminary investigation” against Vizcarra and others “who are responsible” for this vaccination of senior officials.
After the revelation that he had been vaccinated, the popular former president Vizcarra (2018-2020), who is seeking a seat in Congress in the April elections, defended himself saying that he was a volunteer in the Sinopharm clinical trial, like thousands of other Peruvians .
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But this Sunday the university in charge of the trial denied that the ex-president or his wife had been volunteers. “Mr. Martín Vizcarra and Mrs. Maribel Díaz Cabello are not part of the group of 12,000 volunteers subject to research,” said the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in a statement.
The Peruvian media speculates that there may be many officials immunized in advance, as Sinopharm provided in addition to the trial doses, another 2,000 “courtesy vaccines” for the personnel in charge of the study and for members of the Peruvian government.
The versions that there are more vaccinated officials led this Sunday to the chief of staff, Violeta Bermúdez, and other 12 ministers of Sagasti to inform that they have not been immunized.
Congressman asks for vaccinations
A congressman from the Fujimori party Fuerza Popular apologized to his compatriots for having asked that legislators be included in the vaccination against COVID-19 that is being applied to “front-line” health personnel in the fight against the pandemic in his country .
The parliamentarian Napoleón Vigo, who is a doctor, assured that the request he made during the start of the plenary session this Thursday was “inappropriate”, after the leader of his party, Keiko Fujimori, emphatically rejected his proposal.
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“The Executive Power should be asked that the congressmen, advisers and people who are in the front line and who work with us in the weeks of representation have access to vaccines,” Vigo had asked, recalling that the president of Peru, Francisco Sagasti, was vaccinated last Tuesday.
In the midst of the controversy generated by Vigo, since the country has begun vaccination with 300,000 doses from the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm destined for health personnel dedicated to attending the emergency, the presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori expressed her “strong rejection” of the proposal.
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“I want to strongly reject the personal statements of a member of our caucus who has stated that congressmen should have priority to be vaccinated. The priority is the first line, “emphasized Fujimori on Twitter.
The Fuerza Popular candidate added that “there are thousands of Peruvians who risk their lives every day and need this vaccine,” before saying that “no one should take advantage of their position within the State apparatus” and that “the health of the people it is a State issue, it has no flag or political color ”.
