The scandal erupted Thursday after former President Martín Vizcarra confirmed a newspaper report that he and his wife had secretly received shots of a vaccine from the Chinese state pharmaceutical company Sinopharm in October.

The country’s Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti resigned Friday following legislators accused her of concealing information.

Peru launched its vaccination campaign, starting with health workers, in early February after receiving 300,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses from China.

The government has said it plans to vaccinate 10 million people by July.

South American nation has so far recorded more than 1.23 million coronavirus cases and 43,703 deaths among its 33 million people. (ILKHA)