SAO PAULO – President Jair Bolsonaro’s government has given up its criticism of Chinese vaccines and agreed to buy up to 100 million doses of an injection being developed by Sinovac of China, while Latin America faces a post-vacation increase in Covid cases -19.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain who followed President Trump’s example in criticizing China, has long discredited the Sinovac vaccine, which was tested by a state research center in partnership supported by its political rival, the governor of São Paulo João Doria. Just two months ago, Bolsonaro told his supporters that the vaccine, CoronaVac, could kill or incapacitate them without offering evidence, and refused to buy it.
But in recent months, the Chinese vaccine has emerged as one of Brazil’s best bets to fight a pandemic that has cost the lives of more than 200,000 people here, second only to the United States.
The Ministry of Health said on Thursday night that it signed a contract with the Butantan Institute, a research center in the state of São Paulo that has been testing and producing CoronaVac, for the purchase of 46 million doses. The ministry said it has the option to buy another 54 million, enough to immunize 50 million people with the two doses, or about a quarter of the Brazilian population.
Latin America is rushing to guarantee doses as cases increase in the region. Hundreds of thousands of other people tested positive in Latin America this week, after many defied government warnings and held large family gatherings during the holidays and crowded beaches in early summer in the southern hemisphere. With only 8% of the world population, Latin America was responsible for almost 30% of Covid-19 deaths.