Former Peru President banned for 10 years after taking an early vaccine jab

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<strong>Peru's former President Martin Vizcarra has been banned from holding a public office for 10 years because he was vaccinated against coronavirus last year before he was eligible.</strong></p>
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Peru's Congress on Friday imposed the ban on Vizcarra, who led the country from 2018-2020, after he received the jab at the end of last year from Chinese manufacturer Sinopharm.</p>
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It means the 58-year-old will not be able to take up the seat in Parliament he won in last week's election.<br />
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He received the vaccine while he was still President.<br />
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Vizcarra is not the only politician affected by the ban.<br />
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Former Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete has been barred for a year and former Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti for eight years.<br />
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Almost 500 politicians, officials and civil servants are implicated in the 'Vacuna-Gate' – vaccine-gate – scandal.<br />
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They are accused of pushing ahead to get the coronavirus shots, but they say they got inoculated through their voluntarily participation in clinical trials while vaccines were being tested.<br />
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In the case of Vizcarra, the responsible university in Lima has explicitly denied this.<br />
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Vizcarra was impeached by lawmakers last year for corruption, which he has consistently denied.<br />
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He repeatedly clashed with Parliament during his time as President.<br />
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He accused lawmakers of trying to thwart his own anti-corruption efforts.<br />
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Around half of the country's Parliamentarians are under investigation for various reasons.</p>
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<em>(IANS)</em></p>
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