First person in Brazil gets AstraZeneca vaccine

Health workers in Rio de Janeiro were among first people to receive AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine on Saturday after Brazil received its first two million doses from Serum Institute of India.

During a symbolic ceremony at Oswaldo Cruz Foundation hequarters, Estevão Portela, a medic from National Infectolgy Institute was chosen to be first person vaccinated with AstraZeneca vaccine.

First landing in Sao Paulo, n transferred to ar aircraft and flown to Rio de Janeiro, cargo carrying vaccines was taken to Brazil's state-run Fiocruz Institute.

Vaccines went through a security analysis at FioCruz during early hours of Saturday and were given green light for distribution by Ministry of Health.

Maurício Zuma, director of pharmaceutical company Bio-Manguinhos which is currently developing a COVID-19 vaccine said iculation of AstraZeneca vaccine will boost effort to immunise all vulnerable people.

Fiocruz President Nísia Trinde called day a day of ''hope'' as Brazil has second-highest coronavirus death toll in world with more than 216,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins university.

Brazil started its vaccination campaign on Monday using Chinese CoronaVac vaccine, produced by biopharmaceutical company Sivac.

Hospitals across country have been strained amid reports that a new variant of new coronavirus is more contagious, and some states have seen a short of oxygen supplies.