Peruvian Man Suffers Guillain-Barré-like Symptoms After Receiving Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine

“On Dec. 11, 2020, Peru’s National Institute of Health (INS) said it was temporarily suspending the Phase 1 clinical trial of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd. of Shanghai, China after one of the participants in the trial who got the vaccine showed difficulty in moving his arms and legs—symptoms of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).^{1 2 3 4 5}

Peru’s Health Service Suspends Clinical Trial of Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine

In a public statement, the INS said that the “adverse event” was “under investigation to determine if it is related to the vaccine or if there is another explanation.”^{4 5}

“Several days ago we signaled, 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,” said German Malaga, MD, chief researcher at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru, where the vaccine trial is being conducted. “We are concerned about the situation, and we are providing all of our help and support to ensure that it is cleared up,” he said.^{1 2 3}

Guillain-Barre Syndrome After Vaccination

During 1976, as part of a campaign by the U.S. government to vaccinate Americans against a novel type A strain of the influenza virus known as H1N1 (“swine flu”), 450 people in the United States developed Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), which involved inflammation of the peripheral nervous system and can cause temporary or permanent paralysis that can be fatal.^{1 2 6  “}