Vaccination against COVID-19 in São Paulo begins in December, according to Doria

This Wednesday (30), the São Paulo state government signed a commitment with the Chinese biopharmaceutical Sinovac to supply 46 million doses of CoronaVac, a possible vaccine against COVID-19, until December of this year. The coronavirus immunizer (SARS-CoV2) is developed in partnership with the Butantan Institute and, in this first round, around 23 million Brazilians should be immunized (two doses will be necessary).

“São Paulo does not waste time, São Paulo wants to protect the health and life of Brazilians,” defended the state governor, João Doria, at the time of the announcement. For the public coffers, the agreement will cost 90 million dollars (about 374.6 million reais). Along with the doses, the signing of the contract also formalizes the transfer of technology for the production of the Chinese vaccine by Butantan, that is, the national production of Brazil.

According to the state’s announcement, by December, the pharmaceutical company Sinovac should ship 6 million doses of the ready-made CoronaVac vaccine. Meanwhile, another 40 million will be formulated and filled in São Paulo, which will be possible through the technology transfer agreement.

In addition to providing these doses, there are discussions between the management of Butantan and Sinovac to receive another 14 million doses of Coronavac by February 2021.

CoronaVac no Brazil

The safety of the immunizer, which uses the inactivated (“killed”) virus, was demonstrated in a survey of more than 50,000 volunteers in China, however, data from the third and final phase of the test is still awaited. In Brazil, CoronaVac has been tested since July and, currently, national phase 3 clinical studies are monitored by 12 scientific research centers in five states and the Federal District.

“It is the most promising vaccine in the world at this time. This agreement places the state of São Paulo, the Butantan Institute and Sinovac in a prominent position. And very importantly, it is the beginning of the technology transfer process for the production of the vaccine ”, explained the Director of the Butantan Institute Dimas Covas.

In both China and Brazil, clinical trials also include volunteers over the age of 60, who are the group most susceptible to severe COVID-19 symptoms. According to Butantan, the expectation is that the CoronaVac effectiveness tests will close on October 15.

If CoronaVac is successful in the last stage of the tests, Butantan will request the emergency approval of the immunizer from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), justifying the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. If everything goes as expected, São Paulo will begin its vaccination campaign against the coronavirus in the second half of December, with priority for professionals from all public and private health units in São Paulo.

Source: Government of São Paulo