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São Paulo State Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn said today that CoronaVac, a vaccine against covid-19 produced by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac in association with the Butantan Institute, will begin production over the weekend. Today a batch with supplies for the production of the immunizer arrived in São Paulo.
According to him, the expectation is that even in the first two months of next year vaccination will begin. The application of the immunizing agent in the population depends on the authorization of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency).
Butantan director Dimas Covas said that if CoronaVac is approved in January, the state should start vaccination in the same month, although the Health Ministry’s plan is to start the vaccination program for Brazilians only in March.
“If the vaccine is ready for use, we have to start the vaccination. Simply because the vaccine can save a million people. It makes no sense to delay the distribution of a vaccine already registered in Anvisa,” he argued, in an interview with Globonews .
Covas also said that with or without funding from the Health Ministry, the 46 million doses will be used next year. On Tuesday, the Secretary of Health Surveillance, Arnaldo de Medeiros, said that the folder does not rule out any vaccine that is in phase 3 testing in Brazil, as is the case with CoronaVac, which is the subject of a dispute between the federal government. and the state of São Paulo.
“It will be the first vaccine available in Brazil. With funding from the ministry or without funding from the ministry, these 46 million doses will be used very quickly at the beginning of next year. We already have agreements with several states and confederations of municipalities, so it will be done. I hope that with the support of the ministry ”, he said.
Immunizer production
In an interview with TV Globo, Gorinchteyn explained that the 600 liters of input that arrived today will guarantee the production of more than one million doses of the immunizer.
According to him, in the next few days the supplies will be subjected to a technical quality evaluation. “The vaccines are already starting to be produced over the weekend. Then, at the beginning of the week, these doses will be ready, formulated, packaged and, yes, properly, they will be stored pending the release of regulatory bodies, “he explained.
Gorinchteyn said the vaccine is safe and will be effective. Last month, the São Paulo government announced that phase three studies of the immunizer, which can attest to its effectiveness, reached the minimum number of people infected with the coronavirus. With this mark, it is possible to open the results of the studies for the analysis of the approval of the registration by Anvisa.
He said on Tuesday (1) that the results of the immunizer are being analyzed and should be shared with the government “possibly next week.”
Regarding the dates, the secretary said that Butantan is already drafting the emergency request. “We imagine and hope that even in the first two months of next year we are already beginning to vaccinate the population.”