Brazil approves emergency use of Sinovac and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, rollout begins

Brazil’s health regulator on January 17 approved the emergency use of two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinovac and AstraZeneca-Oxford and has kickstarted the vaccination campaign in the nation. Despite the novel coronavirus immunisation being subjected to delays and political disputes in Brazil, the nation has currently secured at least six million doses of the vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd, CoronaVac. As per The Associated Press report, while CoronaVac is ready for roll-out, Brazil is awaiting at least two million doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford’s vaccine. 

Calling it a “good news for Brazil”, Ethel Maciel, an epidemiologist at the Federal University of Espirito Santo hailed the approval of vaccines but noted that 6 million doses are “very few” for the entire population. The Latin American nation with a population of nearly 210 million, is still unclear about how it will secure more vaccines, especially when the demand for jabs is high and the production is limited. Several nations have begun mass vaccination drives and have approved almost as much as three vaccines to effectively immunise the population amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“This is good news for Brazil, but 6 million doses are still very few. It will not allow the entire population at risk to be fully immunized, nor is it clear how quickly the country will obtain more vaccines,” said Ethel Maciel.

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Brazil rejected Russia’s Sputnik V against COVID-19

As per reports, late on January 16, Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa had rejected the application for the use of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V that was submitted by a Brazilian firm União Química. Anvisa reportedly said that the application of the Russian vaccine failed to meet the minimum requirement to start an analysis. Vaccinations in Brazil are beginning after its neighbours Argentina and Chile began the roll-out.

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The immunisation in the nation was finally started on Sunday despite the conflicts surrounding the issue including allies of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro casting doubt on the efficacy of the Sinovac dose that was backed by his rival, Sao Paulo state’s Gov. João Doria. This tiff, according to Maurício Santoro, professor of political science at the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro “prevented any cooperative work.” The vaccination drive began in a ceremony held by Doria starting with a 54-year-old nurse working on the frontline of the pandemic in the nation, Mônica Calazans who had even volunteered in the CoronaVac clinical trial.

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