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Peru's President: I did not authorize vaccination of any minister

Photo: ANDINA/ Presidency of the Republic

08:16 | Lima, Mar. 13.

The President of the Republic Francisco Sagasti denied having authorized any minister to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in an irregular manner.

"I absolutely reject and rule out any idea, possibility, or approach that I granted authorization to any member of the Cabinet to get vaccinated in an irregular manner," Mr. Sagasti said in remarks to ATV Noticias.

"This did not happen, I was never requested or asked for permission to get vaccinated, even less irregularly (...) When at some point, in the Cabinet, a member raised the question: when are we going to be vaccinated, I said clearly: whenever it's your turn," he indicated.

In addition,

the Head of State specified that he did not get vaccinated until there was published resolution that included him on the registry.

"If I follow such a clear and exact procedure, it is by no means acceptable to be said that I could have authorized an irregular vaccination of any member of the Cabinet," he added.

Concerning January 21, the date on which —according to a statement by former Foreign Affairs Minister Elizabeth Astete— she spoke with the Head of State on the matter, the top official clarified that there was not any Council of Ministers session on the aforementioned date.

The statesman indicated that there was a meeting on that day to analyze the results of a teleconference held the previous night with Sinopharm suppliers and officials from Peru's Embassy in China.

As the Peruvian leader remarked, on that occasion the supply of the first batch (one million Sinopharm vaccine doses) that would be sent to Peru was addressed.

"The decision was made during the meeting at the suggestion of (former Health Minister) Pilar Mazzetti to obtain an exceptional authorization for the importation of one million vaccines. That was the only topic, there was no talk about an irregular vaccination or an approval, or anything related," he recalled.

The President also insisted on his rejection of any alleged authorization, indicating that this type of approach casts doubt on the entire vaccination process and spreads disinformation.

Under that premise, Mr. Sagasti affirmed that the irregular vaccination of Astete and Mazzetti must be assessed by the justice administration system.

(END) VVS/MVB

Published: 3/13/2021

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Peru's President: I did not authorize vaccination of any minister

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