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| - The doctor leading a coronavirus vaccine trial in Peru testified in parliament Tuesday that ex-president Martin Vizcarra had knowingly sought, and received, a jab out of turn. Vizcarra was not a volunteer participant, as he claims, in the trial with a candidate vaccine from Chinese company Sinopharm, doctor German Malaga told Congress. Malaga, of the Cayetano Heredia University in Lima running the trial, said Vizcarra had approached him about being vaccinated on October 1, when the drug was being rolled out to 12,000 trial volunteers. He stated that Vizcarra knew he would be getting the real jab, not a placebo. Volunteers in blind trials do not know which of the two they will receive. "He asked me for two vaccines," Malaga told a virtual session of a congressional commission. Vizcarra's wife also received a shot, but the doctor insisted neither were trial "volunteers." President Francisco Sagasti said Monday that almost 500 people had been "irregularly" vaccinated in Peru, including two ministers who have since resigned, and other government officials. Sagasti said that "487 people, including many public officials, took advantage of their position to be immunized with the Sinopharm vaccines that came in addition to those used in clinical trials." Peru has been gripped by "Vaccinegate" following a newspaper report that Vizcarra received the jab months before the South American country launched its immunization program, and just weeks before he was impeached and removed from office on charges that he was "morally incompetent." It later emerged that others, too, had allegedly benefited due to their status and connections, including members of the sitting government. Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti stepped down last week, followed days later by Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete. The scandal into alleged corruption comes amid a devastating second pandemic wave and the campaign for elections in April. Peru only began its immunization drive, starting with healthcare workers, in early February after receiving 300,000 doses of vaccine. There is no official start date for the immunization of the general population. Peru has a million doses of the Chinese vaccine, of which 77,000 were reserved for health personnel. The country of 33 million has recorded more than 1.2 million cases and more than 43,800 deaths from Covid-19. Peruvian media reported at the weekend that Attorney General Zoraida Avalos had opened a "preliminary investigation" against Vizcarra and others. fj/mps/mlr/ft
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