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Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said today that emergency vaccination against covid-19 could begin in December in the country, with doses of the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine. However, the general listed a number of conditions for this to happen, all of which, at this time, are highly unlikely, making the chance of immunization remote in 2020.
In an interview with CNN Brazil, Pazuello also stated that the national immunization plan could begin between the end of January and the beginning of February, which would be a different date suggested in two weeks. Yesterday, the minister said that the start of a national vaccination campaign was scheduled for the end of February, with doses of the immunizer developed by the University of Oxford and the AstraZeneca laboratory. Last week, the plan was expected to start in March, although the government has not yet formalized a date.
Emergency use
To give an emergency vaccination forecast in December, Pazuello considered the possibility that Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) grant an emergency authorization for the use of the immunizer. He spoke specifically of the vaccine developed by Pfizer, the same vaccine that began to be applied yesterday in the United Kingdom.
“The emergency use can occur now in December, for example, hypothetically, if we have the received doses, if we close the contract with Pfizer,” Pazuello said in an interview with CNN Brazil.
If Pfizer obtains an emergency authorization, and if Pfizer advances any deliveries to us, it could happen in January, late December. It is in small quantities, which are for emergency use.
Minister Eduardo Pazuello
The conditions cited by Pazuello, however, are unlikely at this time. That’s because:
- So far, no vaccine has made an emergency use request for Anvisa;
- Brazil is in negotiations, but has not yet concluded negotiations with Pfizer (read below);
- Despite the negotiation, Pfizer considers it unlikely the possibility of making the doses available to Brazil before January (read below).
The minister recalled the intention of the Brazilian government to close a contract with the Pfizer laboratory to initially receive 500,000 doses of the vaccine. The immunizer received an emergency clearance in the UK in early December and vaccination began in the country yesterday for priority groups. The vaccine has also been ordered for emergency use in the United States and Argentina.
OR Twitter He asked Anvisa, by email, whether it would be feasible, even this year, for emergency approval in December of a vaccine whose authorization was not requested. The report has yet to come back.
Oxford and Sinovac vaccines
Although Pazuello talks about the Pfizer vaccine, so far, the Brazilian government’s big bet is the Oxford vaccine, with which the country has already closed an agreement of almost R $ 2 billion, which provides for the availability of more than 100 millions. dose of the immunizer developed by the AstraZeneca laboratory. In the country, the vaccine will be produced by Fiocruz (Fundación Oswaldo Cruz), a federal institution.
Pazuello also considered the possibility of having the PNI (National Immunization Program) with CoronaVac, a vaccine developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, in alliance with the Butantan Institute, linked to the São Paulo government. The immunizer has been the subject of discussions between the governor of São Paulo, João Doria (PSDB), who announced a state vaccination plan for January, and President Jair Bolsonaro (no party).
General vaccination between January and February
Regarding the effective vaccination plan, based on a definitive vaccination registry in Anvisa, Pazuello said that the expectation now is to start vaccination between the end of January and the beginning of February.
“The quantities depend on the delivery. What do you expect? 15 million from AstraZeneca and 500,000 doses of initial forecast from Pfizer in January. Regarding butantan, I still do not have the number of availability in January,” said the minister.
It is very likely that between January and February we will be vaccinating the Brazilian population.
Minister Pazuello
Pazuello took over Health care on an interim basis in May, after the departure of Luiz Henrique Mandetta and then Nelson Teich. The general has no medical training and is considered a logistics specialist. In September he definitively assumed the ministry. The minister was hospitalized with covid-19, but he recovered.
Pfizer vaccine only in January
Despite Pazuello’s more optimistic forecast, yesterday Pfizer Brazil president Carlos Murillo said that he no longer sees the possibility of the laboratory delivering covid-19 vaccines to Brazil before January. He spoke of vaccinating 2 million Brazilians with the immunizer by March 2021.
According to Murillo, Pfizer and the Brazilian government are negotiating an agreement to make 70 million doses available.
