Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti reported that the Peruvian Government has been negotiating with various laboratories to obtain 24. 5 million vaccines against COVID-19 during the first quarter of 2021, in order to immunize the country's entire adult population —with a first dose— prior to the
"What arrives is what has been signed for, but it is not what is being currently negotiated. I can't mention any figures concerning what is being negotiated at this moment, because there are confidentiality issues, but what all of us —who are participating in the negotiation— are trying to achieve is that we have the
possibility of vaccinating all adults in the first quarter," Dr. Mazzetti said.
"The number of adults that we must vaccinate is 24.5 million and that would be ideal, in an ideal world, because it does not only depend on us that our country can have
those doses in the first quarter to vaccinate people before the
elections are held (on April 11, 2021). It is impossible for us to disclose amounts, quantities, or dates, until we have them (contracts) signed; there are negotiations with different laboratories," she added.
In this context, the Cabinet member confirmed that in December 2020 a small batch of 50,000 vaccines from the
Pfizer will —indeed— arrive in the country, which will be used to test the storage and distribution system, even more so when it is a drug that demands low degrees of temperature, so that the system can be ready to operate in January 2021.