Coronavirus vaccine trials to begin in Peru

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra on Thursday announced clinical trials for a possible COVID-19 vaccine would be held with 6,000 volunteers in the country.

Vizcarra said China's Sinopharm Laboratory will conduct clinical trials in the South American country on August 24.

He also expects clinical trials by the firm AstraZeneca, associated with Oxford University, by the end of August.

Vizcarra said that the country will be part of the World Health Organization global initiative to vaccinate at least 20% of the global population, which means around 6.6 million Peruvians.

According to the president, Peru is in talks with representatives of five laboratories from different parts of the world to make possible the acquisition of 30 million doses of vaccines against coronavirus.

Peru has reported 558,000 coronavirus cases and 26,834 deaths so far, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.