[ad_1]
The director of the Butantan Institute, Dimas Covas, again accused Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) today for approving the import of raw material so that the institution can start the local production of 40 million doses of CoronaVac, the vaccine against covid- 19 developed by Butantan in association with the Chinese laboratory Sinovac. According to Covas, the delay has delayed the manufacturing schedule for immunizations.
“Our prediction was to start [produção da] Butantan vaccine in the second half of October. On September 23, Anvisa was asked for authorization to import the raw material from China. Not gone yet. This delay can affect vaccine production. Every day we wait is one less day of vaccination, “said the director at a press conference held at the Palácio dos Bandeirantes.
São Paulo signed a contract to buy 46 million doses of CoronaVac. The first six million doses should arrive next week, according to Governor João Doria (PSDB). They come ready for application.
The rest will be produced at the Butantan Institute and the raw material is expected to arrive. This Wednesday a meeting of the agency’s board is scheduled and the expectation of the São Paulo authorities is that the request be approved.
“Butantan has been working with a sense of urgency right now, from the very beginning when we started the vaccination process. Every day counts,” he said. “We have an urgent need at this time and we hope that Anvisa will pronounce itself authorizing this raw material to be released. Our factory is ready and we are only waiting for this launch,” added the director of the institution, which is linked to the São Paulo government.
This is not the first complaint that has been filed in relation to Anvisa due to the delay. On another occasion, the agency responded. It should be noted that the delay was due to discrepancies.
Vaccine outside the PNI
Covas again repeated the promise that the state of São Paulo would have 46 million doses available to start vaccination, in case the immunizer has the approved Anvisa registration. However, the uncertainty about whether the Ministry of Health will buy the doses and distribute them through the PNI (National Immunization Program) was criticized by the director.
“In December, there will be 46 million available and it depends on the program that will follow. It can be federal or state. There never was in Brazil [um programa de vacinação estadual]. We would be starting. I still believe that the ideal would be for these vaccines to be incorporated into the national program, “he said.
Last week, CoronaVac He starred in a dispute between Doria and President Jair Bolsonaro (no party), who are currently political opponents. The Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello, even announced a commitment to buy from the federal government to include 46 million doses of the vaccine in the National Immunization Plan, but it was disavowed the next day by Bolsonaro, who ordered the cancellation of the purchase.
“It makes no sense to think that this vaccine, being approved, cannot be used by the national program. If you don’t, the question of financing will remain. The governor [de São Paulo João Doria (PSDB] He has said that this can be done by the states and municipalities ”, concluded Covas.
“Hurry”
The dispute between the president and the governor of São Paulo was the subject of further comments today by Doria. He stated that the president is in no rush to make definitions of the covid-19 vaccine.
“Unlike the president of Bolsonaro, we are in a hurry. Every life is worth and needs to be preserved. Every day without a vaccine means almost 500 lives lost in Brazil. Therefore, the faster we have the vaccines approved by Anvisa, the more lives are lost. they will save in Brazil, “said Doria.
The day before yesterday, Bolsonaro questioned the rush to try to define what the vaccination will be like. The president has argued that there is still no immunizer approved by Anvisa.
“Everybody says that the vaccine that took the least time to date was four years. I don’t know why to get on top of that,” the president said.
In turn, Doria appreciated the interest he said there was among other governors in distributing CoronaVac in their states.
“It means that the governors are pro-life. All the governors want protection of the citizens, they want to enforce science. They have all been advocates of quarantines and they all want vaccines, including the Butantan vaccine. None understand that the Butantan vaccine It should be excluded, due to the fact that Butantan is from São Paulo ”, commented the governor of São Paulo.
