Peru’s “Vacunagate”, a scandal in which Argentina must be watched

The VIP vaccination that scandalizes Argentines is reflected in another case that is burning today in Latin America. This is the Vacunagate from Peru, for which at least 487 officials, leaders and members of their families from that country have been irregularly vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Among them are the former president, Martín Vizcarra and ministers who had to resign, after the provisional president of Peru Francisco Sagasti denounced the list of vaccinated outside the normal circuit and in front of health personnel; in a country with more than 44,000 deaths from COVID, more than 2.4 million infected and with serious health problems such as lack of medical oxygen for patients in serious condition.

The Argentine government has a warning in the Peruvian mirror that should not go unnoticed, since it is not known here how many officials and privileged people have benefited from Sputnik V, the country’s only vaccine to date, with a little more 1 million doses from December until now. The leaders of La Cámpora, the young mayors and trade unionists and now the businessmen and the legislators called for the “vaccination” of the Ministry of Health have been vaccinated.

While in Argentina, the only one fired by President Alberto Fernández was the current former Minister of Health, Ginés Gonzalez García, the scandal which shocks Peruvians is of such magnitude that it is beginning to be the subject of ‘an investigation of justice. And it also splashes the Chinese Embassy in Lima, since the vaccine which is at the center of irregular applications in Peru This is the Sinopharm vaccine from the China National Pharmaceutical Corporation. Coincidentally, a 1 million batch of this vaccine is expected in Argentina by the end of the month.

Vacunagate erupted last week when journalist Carlos Paredes revealed that former President Vizcarra was secretly vaccinated while in office. Later, it was learned that Vizcarra, candidate for the legislator in the April elections, vaccinated his wife and brothers. Then there was a flood of confessions and resignations. Among them are those of the now former ministers Pilar Mazzetti (of Health) and Elizabeth Astete (Chancellor).

President Sagasti – suspected after a deep institutional crisis – said 487 are irregularly vaccinated. There are versions in Argentina which here the number of people vaccinated without belonging to the groups that need it is higher than we know.

“ Vacunagate ” results from applications of the vaccine to persons outside the intended use. an additional batch of 3200 effective doses sent by the Chinese State Group for testing in Lima.

The first doses of the vaccine arrived in September for 12,000 people. Studies began at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) and the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM).

Last Sunday, we learned that the trial protocol called for sending a batch of 3,200 additional doses “to be administered voluntarily to the research team and to the personnel linked to the study”. It is in this game that there were irregularities.

Of this total, 1,200 would be in the hands of the Chinese Embassy in Peru and 2,000 in the management of the team in charge of the clinical trial, which provided them at the request of the authorities and close contacts.

The former president said he volunteered in the vaccine clinical trial, but the study’s chief medical officer denied it.