South American nation Peru temporarily suspended clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm following the detection of neurological problems in test volunteers.

The trials were stopped after the National Institute of Health on Friday stated that a volunteer experienced difficulty in moving their arms, reported AFP quoting local media.

German Malaga, the chief researcher in a press conference stated, “Several days ago we signalled, as we are required, to the regulatory authorities that one of our participants (in trials) presented neurological symptoms which could correspond to a condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome.”

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The Guillain-Barre syndrome is a condition in which the immune system attacks the nerves. The condition may be triggered by an acute bacterial or viral infection. Symptoms start as weakness and tingling in the feet and legs that spread to the upper body. Paralysis can occur. Special blood treatments (plasma exchange and immunoglobulin therapy) can relieve symptoms. 

In the 1970s a campaign to inoculate Americans against swine flu had ground to a halt after 450 vaccinated candidates developed the Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The clinical trials of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Sinopharm were supposed to conclude in the first week of December after testing around 12,000 people.

Following successful results from the vaccine trials, the Peru government would buy up to 20 million doses which would inoculate two-thirds of the country’s population.

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Peru has recorded 979,000 plus COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic and has reported 36,499 plus deaths, in a population of 3.2 crores.

The South American country has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic with its GDP plunging more than 30% in the second quarter.