Brazil authorizes Oxford / AstraZeneca and Coronavac vaccines for emergency use

Brazil authorizes Oxford / AstraZeneca and Coronavac vaccines for emergency use

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Minutes later, Monica Calazans, a black nurse from downtown São Paulo, was the first Brazilian to be vaccinated. Calazans, who has a high risk of complications with Covid-19 and works in an ICU that has been at 90% capacity or more since April, burst into tears before receiving the Coronavac injection.

“You don’t understand what that means for me,” she told São Paulo state governor João Doria.

Brazil is the country most affected by Covid-19 in Latin America. He recorded more than 8 million cases and more than 200,000 deaths from coronavirus. Although several of its neighbors have already approved vaccines for use, Brazil appears to be lagging behind, despite its renowned public health and vaccination record.

Coronavac, developed by the Chinese company Sinovac, is already authorized for the use of 6 million imported doses. It has a history in the state of São Paulo, where the local Butantan Institute conducted Phase III clinical trials of the vaccine. Butantan will also produce future doses.

However, Coronavac showed a low average effectiveness rate of 50.4% – just above the 50% minimum established by the World Health Organization. The number, which is well below the 78% previously announced, raised doubts about the veracity of data and fueled skepticism about the apparent lack of transparency regarding Chinese vaccines.

ANVISA’s technical report giving Coronavac the green light emphasized that the agency also took into account the urgency of the Covid-19 cases fired in Brazil and “the absence of therapeutic alternatives”.

See how some of the major coronavirus vaccines work

He also recommended that the vaccine be more closely monitored, noting that the Butantan Institute had not provided important data from its Phase III study, such as the duration of protection provided by the vaccine and its effect on the elderly, with comorbidities and other groups of patients.

Doria promised to make the vaccines developed in the state available to the Brazilian Ministry of Health for national distribution.
“Today is V day. It is the day of the vaccine, it is the day of truth, it is the day of victory, it is the day of life,” he said at a news conference after the vaccines were approved – one pointed to the Minister’s reluctance Health Eduardo Pazuello to commit to a start date for vaccinations across the country, which he said would start “on D-Day and H-Hour.”
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, which showed an average efficacy of 70.4% in preliminary Phase III trials, was also approved for the use of 2 million doses, which will be imported from the Indian Serum Institute by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz).

Fiocruz closed an agreement to purchase and produce the vaccine with the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca in June. After successive delays, the Brazilian government signed a contract for 256 million doses in October and announced that it would receive the first in December.

After yet another series of delays, Fiocruz expects to receive the first shipment by the end of January.

CNN’s Rodrigo Pedroso reported from São Paulo and Caitlin Hu reported from New York.

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