Coronavirus

U.S. hospital to send volunteers to aid vaccination in Peru

Private vaccine rollouts begin to take hold in Latin America
Vaccination station in Lima, the Peruvian capital. Photo: Joel Salvador/Shutterstock

A hospital from the U.S. state of Alabama plans to send a team of volunteers to Peru to help the country speed up its floundering Covid-19 vaccination campaign. According to the hospital, a 20-person “vaccine team” will travel to the Peruvian region of Cusco after a local agency requested support. 

The USA Health Physicians Group, responsible for the action, said “the goal is to provide 5,000 doses to Peruvians” by August 2021. 

Peru is considered one of the world’s biggest Covid-19 hotbeds and is home to the world’s highest rate of per capita coronavirus deaths — by some distance. 

As of this Monday, vaccination in Peru remains sluggish. The country has been able to fully immunize less than 11.5 percent of its population of 10 million people.