Peru politics shaken by early access to COVID vaccine

  • Medical workers who say they work directly with COVID-19 patients stand outside the public Rebagliati Hospital where they say they work, as other health workers get shots of China's Sinopharm vaccine during a priority vaccination campaign inside the facility in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. The group complains they are not on the list of medical workers to be vaccinated and that some people getting shots do not work directly with COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
  • A nurse prepares a dose of China's Sinopharm vaccine during a priority COVID-19 vaccination of health workers at a public hospital in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. Peru received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday night. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
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Virus Outbreak Peru

Medical workers who say they work directly with COVID-19 patients stand outside the public Rebagliati Hospital where they say they work, as other health workers get shots of China's Sinopharm vaccine during a priority vaccination campaign inside the facility in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. The group complains they are not on the list of medical workers to be vaccinated and that some people getting shots do not work directly with COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
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FRANKLIN BRICEÑO
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LIMA, Peru (AP) — A scandal over unequal access to COVID-19 vaccines has rattled Peru's government and further stained the reputation of a former president in one of the nations hardest hit by the global pandemic.

Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete, Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti and two vice ministers involved in fighting the new coronavirus have been forced to step down in recent days and officials vowed to investigate how many officials received premature vaccinations.

Astete acknowledged secretly receiving a shot made by the Chinese state Sinopharm company — though months after other officials, including a former president — quietly got the shots in September or October.

At that point, the vaccine candidate was still undergoing studies among 12,000 volunteers in the South American nation to determine its effectiveness. The officials received some of the 3,200 extra doses that were shipped along that were not part of the study.

The outrage in Peru over selective distribution contrasts with the criticism China itself faced during the summer when it began giving the same vaccine to hundreds of thousands of people at home before completing studies of its safety and effectiveness. It's an example of how desperate Peruvians are to conquer a scourge that has killed more than 43,000 people — including hundreds of health workers — in the country of about 33 million.

On Dec. 31, China finally approved sale of the Sinopharm vaccine to Peru, saying studies had found it to be 79% efficient in preventing COVID-19, and Peruvian authorities weeks later approved the first formal shipments. The vaccine has not been approved for nonexperimental use in the U.S. or most European countries.

Astete acknowledged in a letter of resignation that she had secretly received the shot in late January because “I could not allow myself the luxury of falling ill.”

That infuriated many Peruvians.

“They took advantage of their positions. It confirms that the priority wasn't for colleagues in the intensive care units who faced death 24 hours straight without even breaks for food,” said Godofredo Talavera, president of the Peruvian medical federation.

“We understand (now) why they waited so long in buying the vaccines. There was no rush; they'd been vaccinated," he added.

Former President Martín Vizcarra had been a popular figure, crusading against alleged political corruption, before his targets in Congress ousted him in November — alleging corruption on his own part in a case unrelated to the vaccines. He was replaced a week later by Inteim President Francisco Sagasti.

The new leader told the America television channel that he was “indigant and furious" about the secret shots and new Health Minister Oscar Ugarte said the president had ordered an investigation of how many officials had received the vaccines.

Astete authorized the purchase of 1 million Sinopharm shots on Jan. 7 and recevied the shot herself two weeks later, revealing it only after Vizcarra confirmed a newspaper report that he had gotten a shot in October along with his wife, Maribel Díaz. On Monday, he acknowledged a brother also received a vaccine.

AstraZeneca and the German CureVac vaccine candidates are also under study in the country.

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