Peru inks deal with Sinopharm for COVID-19 vaccines

A signage of Sinopharm is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), following the COVID-19 outbreak, in Beijing, Sept 5, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

LIMA - Peru has signed an agreement with Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm to acquire its vaccine against COVID-19, with the first 1 million doses to arrive this month, Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti announced Wednesday.

In a nationwide address, Sagasti said Peru's cooperation in Sinopharm phase 3 trials placed the country "in a better position to access vaccines" and to "verify their effectiveness in the national population."

Clinical trials of the Sinopharm vaccine are currently underway at the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University and the National University of San Marcos.

According to Peru's National Institute of Health, which is overseeing the process, 11,000 volunteers have been vaccinated since the trials began in September.

Peru has registered more than 1 million COVID-19 cases and over 37,000 deaths.