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| - The Peruvian university leading clinical tests of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine denied Sunday that ex-president Martin Vizcarra, under fire for receiving his shot out of turn, had been a trial volunteer as he claims. The Cayetano Heredia University in Lima said the trial leader had informed Peru's health authorities "that Mr Martin Vizcarra and (his wife) Mrs Maribel Diaz Cabello are not part of the group of 12,000 volunteer research subjects." Vizcarra is under fire after a newspaper revealed he received a coronavirus shot in October, months before the hard-hit South American country began an official inoculation program. Peru only began its immunization drive, starting with health workers, last Tuesday, two days after receiving 300,000 vaccine doses from state-owned Chinese company Sinopharm. Vizcarra was inoculated just weeks before he was impeached and removed from office on charges that he was "morally incompetent." He said he and his wife had volunteered to take part in a vaccine trial. "I made the brave decision to join the 12,000 volunteers," said the former president, who is campaigning to win a seat in congress in general elections in April. Vizcarra, 57, said he kept the fact a secret because "volunteers have to maintain confidentiality." The controversy prompted Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti, in office since July 2020, to resign last week, despite denying knowledge of the vaccination of Vizcarra, who appointed her. Peru has recorded more than 1.2 million coronavirus cases and over 43,400 deaths among its 33 million people. The health system is overwhelmed, with more than 14,200 people hospitalised and a shortage of medical oxygen. The government has said it intends to vaccinate 10 million people by July. et/mlr/bgs
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