Peruvian Secretary of State Elizabeth Astete resigned Sunday night after announcing she had received a dose of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials and before the country began rolling out vaccinations.
In a statement on social media, Astete said that, after contacting several officials who tested positive for Covid-19 in December 2020 and January 2021, she accepted an offer to receive a dose of the Sinopharm vaccine on January 22. to get. what she interpreted as “the remaining doses of the batch in the possession of Cayetano Heredia University.”
Astete, 68, cited travel commitments for her job and undergoing Covid-19 testing after coming into contact with people who tested positive as factors influencing her decision to get vaccinated in January.
In a statement, Astete said:
As a result of the recent revelation about the vaccination of (former) President Vizcarra and his wife, as well as the understandable impact this news had on public opinion, I am aware of the grave mistake I have made, which is why I have decided not to receive the second dose. ”
“I have resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs to the President of the Republic.”
Astete’s resignation comes after local media reported last week that former president Martin Vizcarra and his wife, Maribel Diaz Cabello, were vaccinated during their tenure last October and failed to disclose this information to the public.
On Thursday, Vizcarra said he volunteered to be one of 12,000 people enrolled in the Sinopharm vaccine trials.
But on Saturday, Cayetano Heredia University (UCH) – the leading university in charge of that trial – released a statement clarifying that Vizcarra and his wife were not part of the vaccine trial, which began in September.
Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti accepted Astete’s resignation on Sunday evening, saying on Twitter that the health minister had ordered an investigation into senior government officials receiving doses of the vaccine.
“With the transparency and determination that characterize our government, we will publish the results of the research and information from the Cayetano Heredia University Center for Clinical Studies,” said Sagasti.
Sagasti also confirmed the resignation of Deputy Health Minister Luis Suárez Ognio after local media reported that he had also been vaccinated.
Sagasti expressed outrage against the local radio RPP on Sunday evening at the scandal, saying the doses used to vaccinate government officials were donated by Sinopharm – and not part of the batch used for the UCH-led investigations. .
Peru became the first Latin American country to distribute the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine on Feb. 9. While other agreements have been made with Pfizer / BioNTech and Oxford / Astrazeneca, the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is the only Covid-19 vaccine currently distributed in the country.