Brazil approves COVID-19 vaccines developed by China's Sinovac, Britain's AstraZeneca: media

Screenshot shows a news report published by Financial Times on Jan. 18, 2021.

On Jan. 17, Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa approved the emergency use of two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech and the Britain-based drug maker AstraZeneca, respectively, according to a news report published by Financial Times on Jan. 18, 2021.

The emergency use of both vaccines was approved by the board of watchdog Anvisa after unanimous vote. The vaccine administration in Brazil includes 6 million of the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by Sinovac in collaboration with the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, and it would start as soon as this week, according to the Financial Times.

Earlier this month, Brazil’s Health Ministry had signed a contract with the Butantan Institute to purchase up to 46 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine. The ministry also mentioned the option to buy another 54 million to enable 50 million people to be inoculated with two dose-shot, according to a news report published by the Wall Street Journal Jan. 8, 2021.

On Jan. 7, Reuters and Bloomberg reported that the CoronaVac vaccine was 78% effective against COVID-19 in late-stage trials in Brazil involving around 13,000 participants with no severe COVID-19 cases.

The CoronaVac vaccine was 78% effective in preventing mild cases of COVID-19 and 100% effective against severe and moderate infections, said Dimas Covas, director of the Butantan Institute.