The Peruvian government has suspended the trial of a major Chinese corona virus vaccine candidate, saying the country will start rolling jabs in the next three months after a participant faces a severe medical episode.
Peruvian Health Minister Pilar Massetti said the decision by the National Institutes of Health (INS) to suspend the investigation of synopharmaceuticals in the country was an assessment of the underlying cause of the adverse event, in which the participant experienced neurological symptoms.
German Malaga, chief researcher at the local Guidano Heredia University involved in the study, said the volunteer had reduced strength in his legs among other symptoms.
Authorities are trying to find out if the adverse event was due to the vaccine or for some other reason. The vaccine was expected to complete the first phase of testing in the next few days.
The government says the synoform vaccine is not the only option available to Peru, and is in the advanced stages of negotiations to obtain more than 26 million units of the vaccine from Russia, China and the United Kingdom.
Ms. Massetti noted that it is very important for people to have a vaccine that is very safe for them.
The Sinoform vaccine is being developed by the Chinese National Pharmaceutical Board, one of several vaccines being developed by Chinese companies.
Last month, after an adverse event, the Brazilian health regulator suspended medical tests on Coronavac, another Kovit-19 vaccine developed by China.
According to the World Health Organization, 980,000 corona virus cases have been reported in Peru, including 36,500 deaths.
On Sunday, the Peruvian government announced that it had almost finalized a contract for about 9.9 million doses of Pfizer-Bioentech vaccine, and that the first batch could arrive soon this month. They have an agreement with the WHO’s Kovacs facility for 13.2 million units of vaccines, but they are only expected to arrive in the second half of 2021.
Additional report by agent