Peru began distributing China’s Sinopharm vaccine on Tuesday morning, while leading health workers were given preference during the first phase of implementation.
The country has participated in the clinical trials of the Sinopharm vaccine since last year and is becoming the first country in Latin America to implement the Chinese vaccine.
A group of doctors at Arzobispo Loayza Hospital in Lima received the first person to receive the vaccine on Tuesday morning, state news agency Andina reported.
President Francisco Sagasti is expected to be vaccinated later Tuesday.
On Sunday, Peru received its first shipment of 300,000 doses of Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, and expects to receive the remaining 700,000 doses on February 14th. The military will oversee the distribution of the vaccine across the country.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete announced that her government had reached an agreement with Pfizer for the provision of 20 million doses of their vaccine, state news agency Andina reported.
Astina told a congressional committee that 250,000 doses will arrive in March and at least 300,000 in April, Andina reports.
“We are assured that Peru will receive a minimum of 5,750,000 vaccinations by July 1, and the supply will increase significantly to 20 million since then,” Astete said.
Astete also told lawmakers her government has signed an agreement to receive 6.6 million doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca through the Covax program to vaccinate 20% of the population.
President Sagasti, who took office in November, has been criticized for delaying reaching an offer for the vaccine.
Perua currently has 1,186,698 confirmed cases of coronavirus and recorded 42,308 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The country reported more than 6,000 cases per day, an increase from 2,000 cases per day in early January, while also having a shortage of beds and oxygen for intensive care units (ICU) and oxygen.
Peru has the fifth highest Covid-19 score in Latin America, after Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico, according to JHU data.