• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Health care workers wait to receive a dose of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine in Lima, Peru, Feb. 9, 2021. Peru's bishops are indignant that vaccines are being given to VIPs instead of essential workers; one of those who received the vaccine was the papal nuncio. (CNS photo/Sebastian Castaneda, Reuters)

Peru’s bishops indignant over COVID-19 vaccine scandal involving nuncio

February 18, 2021
By Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, News, World News

LIMA, Peru (CNS) — Peru’s Catholic bishops want a thorough investigation of a COVID-19 vaccine trafficking scandal that includes the country’s papal nuncio.

In a statement released late Feb. 17, the bishops’ conference said the illicit use of vaccines “exposes the new face of the monster of corruption” in this Andean country of 33 million people.

The scandal, known in Peru as “Vaccine-gate,” has rocked the country, not only forcing political resignations, but undermining the credibility of some of the sectors that still commanded respect, including doctors, universities and the church.

“We demand that these actions are investigated and punished so that impunity does not gain more space among Peruvians,” the bishops said.

The snowballing scandal began in early February when former President Martín Vizcarra admitted that he, his wife and his brother had been inoculated in October with doses from China’s Sinopharm.

The shots they received were part of a batch of 3,200 doses sent by Sinopharm to supplement a clinical trial it was conducting in Peru with nearly 12,000 volunteers. The Peruvian government, now headed by interim President Francisco Sagasti, signed a deal in January for 38 million doses of Sinopharm’s vaccine. One million doses had arrived by mid-February.

The tenor changed Feb. 14, when the health and foreign affairs ministers admitted they, too, had been vaccinated. They have since resigned, as have more than a dozen authorities. An initial investigation of the universities that conducted the trials for Sinopharm found that 474 people had been inoculated, including Archbishop Nicola Girasoli, the Vatican ambassador to Peru since 2017.

In a brief statement Feb. 16, Archbishop Girasoli said he had been invited to receive the vaccine because he was a “consultant on ethical issues” for the Cayetano Heredia University, which ran part of the clinical trials.

In a radio interview prior to release of the bishops’ statement, Lima Archbishop Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio said the nuncio’s explanation was insufficient.

“That he is on the list hurts us deeply. His participation is a sign that we, too, need to overcome indifference to the problems” faced by Peruvians, said Archbishop Castillo.

The bishops’ statement also highlighted the impact on front-line workers, saying the indignation from the illicit use of the vaccines “is worsened because it pushes aside those who have been sacrificing themselves on the front line of the pandemic for a year.”

Peru’s front-line workers have been hit hard. The Peruvian Medical Association reported at the end of January that 275 doctors had died from the virus, the third-highest in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico. The National Police reported in mid-February that 583 officers have died from the virus in 11 months.

Peru is in the midst of a second wave of the pandemic, with 252 deaths Feb. 17, the second-highest daily total since the crisis began last March. The high was 277 deaths Aug. 13.

Peru is second only to Mexico in Latin America for per capita deaths from the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker.

Also see

Vatican relaxes vaccine mandate, masking rules

Christian divisions make fertile ground for conflict, pope says

Schools deal with effects of pandemic

Report: Kids’ time spent on screen soars during the pandemic

Inflation wallops parishes and schools in Archdiocese of Baltimore

Paglia: Pandemic points to urgent need to address inequality in health care

Copyright © 2021 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service is a leading agency for religious news. Its mission is to report fully, fairly and freely on the involvement of the church in the world today.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

Latest Local News

Young adults from Archdiocese of Baltimore invited to experience local and international World Youth Day events

Archdiocese of Baltimore welcomes new school leaders

RADIO INTERVIEW: Camp St. Vincent

Archbishop Lori decries Biden executive order, ‘continued promotion of abortion’

Archbishop Lori urges Congress to ‘seize hopeful moment,’ vote to protect life, common good

Latest World News

Overturning of Roe provides ‘chance to win fight for life,’ says top Knight

Desire for eternal youth is ‘delusional,’ pope says

Father Carl Kabat, a former Baltimore resident, spent 17 years in prison for anti-nuclear protests

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, pope tells young people

5th Circuit urged to keep injunction in place on HHS transgender mandate

Catholic Review Radio

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Young adults from Archdiocese of Baltimore invited to experience local and international World Youth Day events
  • Overturning of Roe provides ‘chance to win fight for life,’ says top Knight
  • Desire for eternal youth is ‘delusional,’ pope says
  • Archdiocese of Baltimore welcomes new school leaders
  • Father Carl Kabat, a former Baltimore resident, spent 17 years in prison for anti-nuclear protests
  • Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, pope tells young people
  • 5th Circuit urged to keep injunction in place on HHS transgender mandate
  • MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Predator’ prequel hunts for ‘Prey’
  • Cardinal Tomko, oldest member of College of Cardinals, dies at 98

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2022 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED