Foreign Affairs Minister Mario Lopez on Monday affirmed that the agreements signed with a laboratory and the multisectoral coordination mechanism COVAX Facility are binding, in such a way that 11 million Peruvians will get access to COVID-19 vaccines.
According to the government official, most laboratories and countries developing the vaccine claim that the first doses are expected to be available in the first quarter of next year, as had been reported to the population.
"The ones (agreements) signed by the Ministry of Health (Minsa) are binding agreements that ensure the doses that I mentioned before. On the one hand,
Pfizer will supply 9.9 million doses, while COVAX Facility will ensure 13 million doses, which means around 11 million people will get the vaccine, considering that two doses will have to be administered to each person," he told RPP radio and TV station.
Lopez explained that the negotiations held with laboratories and companies around the world are complicated as they are marked by uncertainty, which is caused by the limited data about this disease.
"We are moving in the right direction. We are ensuring
Peru's access to COVID-19 vaccines, which will allow us to quickly cover a significant percentage of the population. Our first goal is 70% coverage," he stated.
The minister emphasized that Peru has been holding negotiations with several laboratories and governments, as well as with the multisectoral coordination mechanism COVAX Facility since April, which "are taking shape."
"We do it as a country, and we are also coordinating with other countries to review the progress made by other laboratories; that is to say, we had been signing preliminary agreements, but last weekend we signed binding agreements, which involves an advance purchase (of the vaccine)," he added.
Regarding the payment, the dates were set during the negotiations in both cases (Pfizer and COVAX Facility), so it cannot be completed earlier because prices are fluctuating.
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Published: 9/21/2020