Ministry announces the purchase of 46 million Coronavac vaccines and says that immunization begins in the first half of 2021 | Saint Paul

The information that the agreement would be signed during the meeting was anticipated by the journalist José Roberto Burnier, from News.

Like the other vaccines tested in Brazil, CoronaVac is in the testing phase and its effectiveness has not yet been proven before the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) publishes its use.

São Paulo Governor João Doria (PSDB) and 23 other governors attended the meeting with Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello.

According to Pazuello, when the vaccine is approved, the doses will be distributed throughout Brazil through the National Immunization Program (PNI), which for decades has already guaranteed the success of national vaccination campaigns. “We have the experience of all the processes that involve this logistics, acquired over 47 years of PNI. The vaccines will reach Brazilians in all states ”, he guaranteed.

Before Tuesday’s announcement, the ministry’s forecast was to have 140 million doses in the first half of 2021:

• 40 million through the COVAX Facility initiative, led by the World Health Organization (WHO)
• 100 million doses via AstraZeneca / Oxford (in addition to these doses, in the second half, the government should produce 165 million doses of this immunizer).

Until an earlier meeting held with state health secretaries from across the country last week, the federal government had not included CoronaVac in the national vaccination program.

CoronaVac is in the third phase of testing. This Monday (20), the government of São Paulo declared that 35% of the 9,000 volunteers who participated in the tests in Brazil had mild adverse reactions. According to the government, there was no record of serious side effects, confirming the safety of the vaccine.