Home » Health » Congressman who called Sinopharm vaccine ‘distilled water’ met with Chinese ambassador: “It was a friendly meeting”

Congressman who called Sinopharm vaccine ‘distilled water’ met with Chinese ambassador: “It was a friendly meeting”

The president of the Foreign Relations Commission of Congress, Ernesto Bustamante, received a formal visit from the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Liang Yu. Photo: Foreign Relations Commission (Congress)

Congressman Ernesto Bustamante (Popular Force), President of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Congress of the Republic, met for the first time with the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in Peru, Liang Yu; after Bustamante’s harsh criticism of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine while he was still a candidate for Parliament.

The meeting would have been held at the request of the ambassador, as is usually done. China’s political adviser Li Yun was also present at the meeting.

The meeting will have lasted over an hour and was “friendly and positive.” Topics of interest to China were discussed in Peru, such as mining investments and the construction of the Chancay port.

But a salient theme was the Discussion of Congressman’s Past Statements Regarding the Chinese Sinopharm Vaccine.

I started the topic. The Chinese embassy and I, when I was not yet a member of parliament, had had a series of exchanges on Twitter regarding my views on the vaccine. I told (the ambassador) that I knew that the Chinese embassy disagreed with my opinions, and I explained that at no time were these opinions political, nor are they. I told him that now that I am a politician for the parliamentary position, I retain my technical side and technically (also) I have expressed scientific criticism of the efficacy of the CureVac vaccine, made in Germany and AztraZeneca, ”he told the Peruvian media.

The former head of the National Institute of Health (INS) stated that his comment on distilled water made reference to the preliminary trial of the Sinopharm vaccine, which was carried out at the Cayetano Heredia University. “[Este] it indicated that the Wuhan strain had a behavior almost equivalent to that of distilled water, because it did not really act as a vaccine, and the other strain, which was the Beijing strain, did have a vaccine behavior, but it was not optimal, “he argued.

The answer

Ambassador Liang Yu reportedly replied that the Sinopharm vaccine is made with inactivated virus technology. To this Bustamante replied: “(…) that technology was 200 years old, it is still used, but there are more modern technologies. I know, I told him, that there are two other companies that make vaccines in China: CanSino and Sinovac. The second is starting to use messenger RNA technology (like Pfizer and Moderna). I told him that I hope that Sinopharm also begins to use that technology in a way that reaches the levels of efficacy that other vaccines have. “

I do not have an anti-China positionWhat happens is that all my scientific comments regarding the Chinese vaccine were made within an election context, so there were many people who extracted what was politically convenient and attributed things to me such as that I was anti-vaccine, when I am provaccine, but I am pro good vaccine ”, he affirmed.

He also said that in the absence of vaccines, the Sinopharm vaccine is a good option because “it protects, not as much as others, but it protects”.

Last marchWhile still a candidate for Congress, Bustamante publicly claimed that the Chinese vaccine was comparable to distilled water. “How is it possible that I continue to give a vaccine that I know is the same as distilled water,” he said.

The Chinese Embassy in Peru rejected his criticism through its official Twitter account. “Mr. Ernesto Bustamante, it is a crime to deprive the right to health and life of people with misinformation and lies. Worse still if it is someone who was dedicated to medicine and science. It is defamation to accuse a company of corruption without any basis, ”they wrote.

The initial interpretation of the Chinese embassy in Peru, on the declarations of the congressman Bustamante, would have been like an “attack” against China. But after the conversation, it would have passed more harmoniously.

Topics of interest in bilateral relations between the two countries were discussed. There was even talk about organizing a virtual meeting between scientists from both nations try to talk about vaccines and molecular tests.

Bustamante would also have thanked him for the help provided by China to Peru, such as sending medical personnel in 2020 and the vaccine batches.

As president of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Congress of the Republic, he has held formal meetings with the ambassadors of South Korea and Israel. Tomorrow he will receive the one from Japan and then Spain.

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