Sinopharm's vaccine testing samples arrive in Peru

Some 12,000 vaccines against the new coronavirus from the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm arrived in Lima on Wednesday.

The trial is going to be very important for the entire population of the world, the Chinese Ambassador to Peru said. Phase three of the trial will include 6,000 people between the ages of 18 and 75. Half of them will be vaccinated at San Marcos National University and the other at Cayetano Heredia University.

Trials with thousands of participants allow researchers to gather data on the efficacy of vaccines to pass regulatory approvals. According to Sinopharm, the vaccine is being tested in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, with further tests in Morocco and Argentina. Peru is one of the hardest-hit countries by the virus since its appearance in March, which according to the Johns Hopkins University, has recorded more than 657,000 COVID-19 cases and 29,068 dead.