Andina

Second COVID-19 vaccine batch arrives in Peru

Photo: ANDINA/Presidency of the Council of Ministers

19:59 | Lima, Feb. 13.

The second batch of vaccines from the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm —consisting of 700,000 doses against the novel coronavirus— landed in Lima on Saturday evening.

The cargo left Beijing (China) last Thursday for Amsterdam (the Netherlands), where it arrived on Friday for the corresponding transfer towards Peru.

Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez supervised the arrival of the KLM shipment, joined by Ministers Elizabeth Astete (Foreign Affairs) and recently sworn-in Oscar Ugarte (Health).

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.

"This will allow 500,000 Peruvians to get vaccinated. It (the vaccination process) has begun with health workers, and it can go on now. Police and Army members will also get vaccinated," Minister Ugarte said in remarks to TVPeru.




"This new vaccine batch completes the first one million doses aimed to protect health personnel. A few days prior to serving three months as Government, we mark a milestone in public health thanks to the efforts of everyone. Let this legacy of unity remain in place," Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti expressed via Twitter.

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Published: 2/13/2021