Ecuador's Public Health Minister Rodolfo Farfan resigned on Friday from the post that he held for only 19 days amid the country's COVID-19 vaccination process, the president's office confirmed.

Farfan, who was the fourth health minister under the current administration and the third to resign during the pandemic, said he was leaving for personal reasons in his resignation letter to President Lenin Moreno.

Appointed to the position on March 1, Farfan replaced Juan Carlos Zevallos, who also resigned amid the questioning of alleged irregularities and blunders in the country's vaccination plan.

His resignation comes at a time of social unrest due to the plan's irregularities and the scandal over a list of well-connected people vaccinated who were not on the frontline of the fight against the pandemic.

As part of an investigation opened on January 29 into the vaccination process, the Attorney General's Office raided the Health Ministry's facilities in Quito on Wednesday.

Zevallos faces charges for the alleged crime of influence peddling in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to benefit family members and people close to the government.The former minister was in office for almost a year, but resigned on February 26.

Accusations of nepotism in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines have caused political turmoil in several South American countries including Ecuador, Peru and Argentina.

Official data show Ecuador has administered the first dose of the vaccine to more than 120,000 people. Authorities say they have arranged to purchase 20 million doses to vaccinate 60% of the population above the age of 18 by the end of the year.

(With input from Xinhua, Reuters)