Defense Minister Nuria Esparch on Sunday affirmed that the Armed Forces are ready to support the deployment of the second batch of Sinopharm vaccine doses throughout the country so as to continue the vaccination process against COVID-19.
According to the high-ranking official, 35 air routes have been arranged for this second batch, which will be covered by private carriers, the Armed Forces and the National Police.
"35 flights have been scheduled for next week, four of them will be carried out by the Armed Forces," she pointed out, noting the arrangement of additional helicopter routes from national airports to specific destinations.
Last night, the defense minister monitored the arrival of the vaccines at the Cenares warehouse, together with Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez, Health Minister Oscar Ugarte, and Chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces Major General Cesar Astudillo.
Following the arrival of the first batch —consisting of 300,000 vaccines— the Armed Forces scheduled 11 flight itineraries for the distribution of the doses to begin the vaccination of healthcare workers on the frontline of the battle against COVID-19.
The cargo left Beijing (China) last Thursday for Amsterdam (the Netherlands), where it arrived on Friday for the corresponding transfer towards Peru.
The latest batch of 700,000 doses adds to a total of one million COVID-19 vaccines agreed between the Republic of Peru and China's pharmaceutical company Sinopharm for February.
(END) NDP/FHG/RMB
Published: 2/14/2021