Foreign Affairs Minister Elizabeth Astete on Sunday night said that she has submitted her resignation to
, after announcing that she had received a dose of the Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19.
Via Twitter, Astete released the following statement:
After being in contact with several COVID-19 positive officials in December 2020 and January 2021, including high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and the Director General of America, as well as with foreign diplomatic officials and escort personnel, I accepted the offer to receive the first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine, on January 22, 2021, from —as I understood— the remaining doses of the batch held by the Cayetano Heredia University.
-My decision was influenced by the fact that I had to undergo two molecular tests between January 8 and 26, as well as a serological test and an antigen test to check whether or not I was infected due to the contact I had —for work reasons— with different people who had tested positive for COVID-19. In addition to this, I had to travel to Tumbes to fulfill my responsibility as representative of that region at the Council of Ministers, and my limitations as a person at risk —since I am 68 years old— was another reason.
-On the other hand, it should be pointed out that, given that I had been responsible for negotiating the strategy to acquire the vaccines since late November 2020, I could not afford to get sick, especially if one takes into account that Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Manuel Talavera was absent, first because he was affected by the pandemic, and then because he had to undergo retinal surgery.
-I have always believed that no one is indispensable, but the last two months have been key to achieve concrete results and overcome various difficulties and issues that arose in the vaccine procurement process.
-It must be noted that, on January 6, supply agreements were signed with AstraZeneca —for 14 million doses— and with Sinopharm —for 1 million doses— and more recently, on February 4, with Pfizer —for 20 million doses. Additionally, the efforts and coordination were tireless to settle on the supply of the first vaccines by the COVAX Facility multilateral mechanism for the first quarter of 2021.
-The acquisition of vaccines to immunize 24 million people in 2021 and to ensure their prompt arrival in the national territory —with the aim of vaccinating at least 10 million people before July 28— is a priority goal of this Transition and Emergency Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which should not be affected or tarnished by a wrong decision, whose impact I did not anticipate at the time.
-As a result of the recent disclosure about the vaccination of (former) President Vizcarra and his wife, as well as the understandable impact that this news had on public opinion, I am aware of the serious mistake I made, which is why I decided not to receive the second dose. For the above-mentioned reasons, I have submitted my resignation from the post of Foreign Affairs Minister to the President of the Republic.