(CNN Spanish) –– The president of Peru, Martín Vizcarra, reported this Thursday at a press conference that the country will begin preparations for clinical trials of a vaccine against covid-19 developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm on August 24 . Some 6,000 volunteers from Peru will participate in this test, according to the president.
At the end of the month, the dates will also be defined for Peru to participate in the clinical trials of the vaccine against covid-19 developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca together with the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. And in September, the government of Peru will close the coordination for the same purpose with the American Johnson & Johnson.
President Vizcarra anticipated that his government will define the dates in October to begin clinical trials of the vaccine being developed by Imperial College London in the United Kingdom.
Vizcarra added that there is still no defined schedule for Peru to participate in the clinical trials of the vaccines developed by the pharmaceutical companies CureVac of Germany, as well as Sinovac and CanSino Biologics of China.
On the other hand, the president pointed out that 92% of the country's population, that is, 30.4 million Peruvians, will receive the covid-19 vaccine once it is ready. Thus, the projection that the government gave regarding the dates on which these vaccines would be delivered to the country, according to the negotiations it has with five laboratories, are the following:
-Sinovac (China) and Instituto Butantan (Brazil) will serve 6.6 million inhabitants. Delivery period: fourth quarter of 2020
-AstraZeneca (United Kingdom) will serve 6.6 million inhabitants. Delivery period: first half of 2021
-Sinopharm (China) will serve 6.6 million inhabitants. Delivery period: first half of 2021
-Pfizer (USA) will serve 4 million inhabitants. Delivery period: first half of 2021
-Covex Facility, will serve 6.6 million inhabitants. Delivery period: during 2021.
Vizcarra recalled that there are 135 laboratories in the world that are beginning the preclinical tests for the vaccine and that 8 laboratories participate in phase 3. Both the president and the Minister of Health, Pilar Mazetti, pointed out that the deadlines for approving a vaccine and later administering and using it in Peru are six months, but they clarified that the government works so that this step does not exceed 15 days.
According to data from the Ministry of Health of Peru, until this Wednesday the country registers 558,420 confirmed cases of covid-19 and 26,834 deaths of people with the virus.
Covid-19 Clinical trial Pandemic Coronavirus vaccine
