Brazil begins trial of Chinese made coronavirus vaccine

The Brazilian city of Niterói in Rio de Janeiro state has begun testing a coronavirus vaccine produced by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac.

The trial is being conducted by a partnership between the city government, the Butantan Institute and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.

Some 800 of the city's healthcare workers have already applied to participate in the study as volunteers to receive the vaccine.

Five other Brazilian states are participating in the Sinovac tests, with 9,000 volunteers in total.

Rafael Bastos, an anesthesiologist who volunteered to receive the vaccine, is confident the trial will be a success.

"It can solve our public health problem, not only in Brazil but in the world," Bastos said Tuesday.

According to the Johns Hopkins University tally, Brazil has reported more than 3.9 million coronavirus cases and 121,381 deaths, making it the second worst-hit country in the world after the United States.