RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said on Friday that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca Plc had applied for full regulatory approval, in a progressive development for nationwide-led vaccine distribution.
The application, the first of its kind in Brazil, was made by the Fiocruz Institute, which is funded by money and is made by British vaccine manufacturers locally. A spokesman for AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has already been approved for emergency use in Brazil, confirmed the claim.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who says he will not take a COVID-19 bullet, is under pressure to monitor the slow and direct spread of vaccines, just as the second brutal wave of diseases is gathering momentum . The AstraZeneca vaccine is a key pillar of the federal government’s vaccination plan. He has ordered material for up to 100 million views, which will be made by Fiocruz.
However, the claim does not solve Brazil’s vaccine headache.
Ships of active ingredients needed to make Britain vaccinated locally have once again been delayed, and it has not yet left China. It is not clear when he will arrive. At the same time, AstraZeneca is facing widespread difficulties in meeting demand for its vaccine in markets around the world.
Brazil is currently dependent on a Chinese vaccine, developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd, and 2 million ready AstraZeneca strains imported from India earlier this month to the 210 million people to protect them.
Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Edited by Leslie Adler and Diane Craft