Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti said late Monday he is angry and disappointed that 487 people, including former ministers Pilar Mazzetti (Health) and Elizabeth Astete (Foreign Affairs) used their government positions to get vaccinated against COVID-19 outside of the clinical trials.
Sagasti said in a televised address that they were immunized with the Sinopharm vaccines, which came separately as a complement to those used in clinical trials in Peru.
The Peruvian leader blasted the government officials on the list provided by Cayetano Heredia University, saying they failed to fulfill their duty as public servants and failed to show loyalty to the President of the Council of Ministers and himself.
Sagasti said the list will be sent to the prosecutors and the investigation commission formed by Health Minister Oscar Ugarte to determine the next actions to be taken.
Sagasti said the incident will not impact the country’s effort to secure more vaccines.
Peru has one of the highest COVID-19 tallies in Latin America, with more than 1,235,000 confirmed infections and 43,703 deaths, according to Johns Hopkin University Covid Resource Center.
