By Marco Aquino
LIMA (Reuters) – A volunteer in the local Peruvian trial of Sinopharm Group Co Ltd’s coronavirus vaccine has died from COVID-19 related pneumonia, the university carrying out the trial said on Tuesday.
Cayetano Heredia University, which is involved with the study, said that it did not know if the volunteer had received the vaccine or the placebo in the double blind trial. Peru is being hit by a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
The university added that it had communicated the case to the study’s safety committee and to regulatory authorities for an investigation to take place.
In December, Peru temporarily suspended trials of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine due to a “serious adverse event” that occurred with a volunteer in the study.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Adam Jourdan)
