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SÃO PAULO – Governor João Doria announced on Thursday (10) the start of CoronaVac production in Brazil. The announcement, made at a press conference at the Butantan Institute, which will produce the vaccine for the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac in Brazil, marks a new stage in the availability of the coronavirus vaccine in the country amid a controversy between the government of São Paulo and the Ministry of Health.
– The production of the Coronavac vaccine started yesterday here in São Paulo. It is the Brazilian production of Butantã, which is producing with inputs from Sinovac, a historic moment that makes all Brazilians proud – said Governor João Doria (PSDB).
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According to the governor, the production capacity will reach 1 million doses per day. The factory will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
– We have already authorized Butantan to hire 120 more technicians to reinforce vaccine production. They will join the 245 who are already involved in the production – said Doria.
According to Dimas Covas, director of the Butantan Institute, the final file of CoronaVac, when it is ready, will be delivered to Anvisa in two ways: in the usual rite and also with an emergency registration request. In addition, explained the director of Butantan, the data will be evaluated by the Chinese regulatory agency and, if approved, there may be a request to apply for emergency in Brazil.
– It is possible that the registration in China will go out very quickly, before the end of this year. If that happens, it leads us to a law that was enacted earlier this year, specifically on the Covid confrontation. One of the articles allows the importation of drugs and equipment to Covid as long as they are registered with agencies in five countries, including China. If that happens, Anvisa will have to speak. You can accept or reject, but you will have a period of 72 hours. This is the alternative way – explained Covas.
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Doria also said that 12 Brazilian states and 912 municipalities have already expressed interest in acquiring doses of CoronaVac. This Thursday, Santa Catarina will be one of the states to sign a formal protocol of purchase intentions, according to the Butantan Institute.
The supply of vaccines to other states and municipalities was another point of tension between Doria and the federal government, since the role of centralizing and distributing vaccines in Brazil should be the role of the Ministry of Health.
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In addition to Santa Catarina, Acre, Pará, Maranhão, Roraima, Piauí, Mato Grosso do Sul, Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Ceará and Rio Grande do Sul have already expressed interest in buying the vaccine, according to the government; 276 municipalities are also trying to reach agreements.
Earlier in the week, the governor had already announced the vaccination schedule in the state, scheduled to begin on January 25. The date generated a reaction from the federal government. No study has yet been published to test the effectiveness of CoronaVac. The publication is scheduled for next week. Anvisa has already reinforced in a note that only discloses the use of the vaccine after analyzing all the necessary documents.
– Brazil cannot be watching the world begin to vaccinate and here we continue an endless and inconclusive debate, which makes us stand idly by. São Paulo does not sit idle and will help all Brazilian states that request it, so that together we can save lives. We are a federative republic and we must act in harmony to overcome insensitivity, lack of compassion and the duty to start vaccinating Brazilians – said Doria.
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In addition, the vaccine, for now, is not part of the vaccination plan that is being developed in Brasilia. In a meeting with governors earlier in the week, Minister Eduardo Pazuello said that the approval of vaccines in Anvisa could take up to 60 days.
