Peru is one of the countries most affected in the world by Covid-19. For instance, the number of registered deaths per million inhabitants is the largest in South America and one of the world's highest. Due to this situation, diverse clinical trials for vaccines' development took place in Peru, including by the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm. Because of the tests, Peru received 300,00 doses of Sinopharm in early February, which allowed the start of immunization in the country. To encourage the population to vaccinate, the Peruvian President, Francisco Sagasti, was among the firsts to receive a dose. Medical staff, police and armed forces would be the next in line.

However, a few days later, a newspaper reported that ouster former President Martín Vizcarra and his wife had received doses of the Sinopharm's inoculation already in October 2020. After Vizcarra confirmed the information, Peruvian prosecutors found out that, in September 2020, Sinopharm sent 3,200 extra doses of its vaccine. The Cayetano Heredia University, which held clinical trials, received 2,000 of them and the Chinese Embassy in the country, 1,200. It happened before the official purchase of vaccines and before its official approval by the Peruvian Health Agency.

From the vaccines delivered to the University, at least 487 persons have received them secretly, including former President Vizcarra, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Health, the University's authorities, their relatives, and friends. The vaccines delivered to the Chinese Embassy were distributed among its diplomats and the most renowned Chinese community executives in Peru.

The scandal has led to resignations, inclusive of the Foreign Affairs and Health ministers, as well as the suspension of Cayetano Heredia University from doing clinical trials. It received the name Vacunagate – a reference to "vacuna", vaccine in Spanish, and "gate", a suffix in analogy to the Watergate scandal.

Despite the scandal, the Peruvian government expects these events do not impact the purchase and delivery of more vaccines. It has an agreement with Sinopharm for 38 million vaccines. Still, the Peruvian government had only purchased 1 million of them so far. Currently, there are not enough ICU beds for Covid-19 patients in Peru, and the health system faces a shortage of medical oxygen. Therefore, the country needs more doses of vaccines urgently.

~ The views represented in this blog post do not necessarily represent those of the Brandt School. ~