Peru investigates cases of “empty syringes” in vaccination

Peru announced on Tuesday that it is investigating nurses who during the COVID-19 vaccination days were accused of trying to inoculate patients with empty syringes.

The Health Ministry said the three known cases occurred in the capital during the process of applying more than two million doses since March.

“These three cases are fully identified, both in people and in places,” Arturo Granados, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, told reporters. He indicated that the results of the investigations will be known on Thursday and avoided revealing the names of the workers involved.

Miguel Olave, son of the Peruvian Margarita Moreno, told the newspaper El Comercio that his mother was vaccinated on April 30 in a Lima sports center and they noticed that the nurse tried to inoculate him with an empty syringe but that after the claim he changed for a syringe with the vaccine.

This new scandal follows another that began in October and lasted until February when almost 500 privileged people were secretly vaccinated, including then-President Martín Vizcarra, his wife and the diplomatic representative of Pope Francis in Peru, Nicola Girasoli.

The delay in the application of vaccines has caused many wealthy Peruvians and several politicians to travel to the United States to receive free vaccines from that country.

At the moment Peru has vaccinated almost 2% of its population, including those over 80 years of age, doctors and health personnel who cure those infected with the coronavirus.

As of Sunday, Peru accumulated 64,373 deaths who were tested for the virus and tested positive, according to official data.