Peru’s President Pedro Castillo on Monday announced that his administration would install a production plant of the Sputnik V vaccine to expedite COVID-19 immunization of Peruvian citizens.
Across the globe, the crosscutting initiatives to reduce COVID-19 contagions gain more popularity. Peru is ready to install the plant for the production of the Russian-developed vaccine against the coronavirus, said President Castillo.
“With the new doses, we expect to immunize 50 percent of the population by September,” Castillo assured Monday, recalling that his office also allocated USD795 million to finance the initiative.
Peru and Russia have reached an agreement regarding the future plant, which would strengthen the technological infrastructure of the National Institute of Health (INS). The new plant will be responsible for the production of the vaccine together with the Russian experts.
“Since heading office 40 days ago, our administration committed to working for the Peruvian people. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, our priority is to save lives. We have set clear goals to achieve this,” Castillo added.
As of Sep 7, Peru had acquired over 19 million doses of Sinopharm and Pfizer vaccines. Despite the mass immunization campaign has been rolled out several months ago, Peru faced the third wave of the coronavirus. To avoid the deterioration of the situation, President Castillo decided to expedite the arrival of jabs by signing procurement contracts with other suppliers.
Recently, neighbouring Argentina also agreed to produce Sputnik V vaccines in coordination with Russia. As part of cooperation agreements, Venezuela, Mexico, Bolivia, and Guatemala have also acquired millions of doses of this vaccine.
