China sent additional vaccines for clinical trials in Latin America, but they have been used irregularly to immunize officials and artists

In a new test of China’s strategy that seeks to use the pandemic to increase its influence in the region, three Chinese laboratories shipped more doses of COVID-19 vaccine than needed for clinical studies in four Latin American countries, as revealed on Tuesday by a transnational journalistic investigation.

As detailed by a Item published by the Peruvian research medium Audience eyes, the shipments took place in 2020, when the laboratories CanSino, Sinopharm Yes Sinovac they sent doses to Mexico, Argentina, Peru Yes Chile to carry out the tests necessary to obtain the approval of the vaccines, currently in use in several countries of the world.

Based on an analysis of customs records carried out by Audience eyes, studies in Argentina, Chile and Peru have jointly required 24,000 vaccines to be applied to their volunteers. However, in these countries more than 13,500 additional doses entered from China, a surplus of 55%.

According to research, These extra doses were used for the irregular vaccination of government officials and celebrities in several of the countries that participated in the trials.

SINOPHARM

Sinopharm, a company controlled directly by the Chinese regime, was the first Chinese laboratory to export additional vaccines as part of its clinical trials in Latin America. In September of last year, the laboratory sent 3,200 additional doses to Peru as part of your study. The dose were used to secretly vaccinate officials and their relatives, among them the president of the time Martín Vizcarra. The episode sparked a scandal, known as To get vaccinated, which led to the dismissal of the president and the resignation of around 100 officials.

Sinopharm also sent additional doses for its study in Argentina. Pedro Cahn, researcher of the Guest Foundation, an institution specializing in the study of HIV-positive patients with a long history in clinical trials and which was in charge of tests in the country, recognized that there were still vaccines, although he indicated that the doses are stored.

In the case of Argentina, Audience eyes He also detected possible conflicts of interest of those responsible for the trials: four members of the medical committee which advises the government of Alberto Fernandez, are researchers involved in the Sinopharm and Cansino studies. Three of these advisers are Pedro Cahn, her daughter Florencia Cahn Yes Omar continued, which also make up the Guests Foundation. For its part, Eduardo López, Another presidential adviser, he was appointed principal investigator of the Cansino study.

In addition, the Sinopharm trial used the premises of the Vacunar Foundation as research centers. The Argentinian Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, was an employee of the said foundation until April 2020, and He is now a member of the scientific committee of the same institution. Vizzotti also worked as a consultant at Fundación Huiuda in 2017. To date, the Argentine government bought 10 million doses of Sinopharm.

CANSINO

CanSino sends 1,281 additional doses of its Convidecia vaccine to Chile, a surplus of 74.5%; the laboratory He also offered to vaccinate the staff in charge of the study, according to said to Audience eyes Bopal SA, company sponsoring the trial in the country. These additional doses, according to the company, are currently stored at a partner’s facilities.

In Argentina, Cansino sent 1,215 additional doses for its clinical trial. These doses are also being stored and will be used in a new study for patients with HIV, said Pedro Cahn. Audience eyes.

At Mexico, the investigation could not determine the quantity of imported vaccines, due to the López Obrador’s government lack of transparency. However, local media revealed a list of approximately 40 people who received the single dose of Convidecia irregularly. The list includes senior officials, artists – like Mexican singers Vicente and Alejandro Fernández – and their relatives,

SINOVAC

The Sinovac laboratory sent 7,900 additional vaccines to Chile. This is a overrun of 171%, the largest number of clinical trials analyzed by the Peruvian media. The head of the study in the country assured that no officials were involved and added that the remaining vaccines will be used in a trial with minors.

THE STRATEGY OF XI JINPING

The additional dose shipments appear to be a new case of what has been described as “Vaccine diplomacy”, the strategy of Xi Jinping to increase your influence on the international board of directors as a whole, and in developing countries in particular.

Officially, Xi’s regime has said it will not use its vaccines as a diplomatic tool, but senior officials in some public statements have linked the drugs to better cooperation.. Last June, when no vaccine was yet ready, China anticipated the situation and offered voluptuous credit to Latin American countries to access formulas: $ 1 billion.

Yet the adoption of the Chinese vaccine abroad has been slower than that recorded by the American vaccines of Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna., due to lack of information. In addition, the reputation of Chinese laboratories has also been tarnished by the scandals that have arisen in the country in the past about outdated or poor quality products.

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