Advertisement
China-made coronavirus vaccine at heart of political showdown in Brazil
- Ongoing clash between President Jair Bolsonaro and the mayor of Sao Paulo over the Sinovac vaccine threatens immunisation roll-out
- Disagreements over which vaccines to provide the Brazilian population have been brewing since October
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Brazil has become a battleground as political factions jostle over which Covid-19 vaccine to roll out for its 212 million citizens – a decision that will have implications for the entire Latin American region.
Advertisement
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro issued a decree in August to set aside US$356 million to buy and eventually produce 100 million doses of the vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Meanwhile, Joao Doria, governor of Brazil’s richest state, has actively pushed CoronaVac, developed by Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech, in what pundits say is an early move for the 2022 presidential bid.
A showdown has been brewing since October, when Bolsonaro vetoed a deal between the health ministry and Doria’s Sao Paulo government for the purchase of 46 million doses of CoronaVac. He went on to equate it with “death and disablement” and said he would not include it in the country’s national immunisation programme.
01:36
First doses of China’s CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine land in Brazil
First doses of China’s CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine land in Brazil
Known as the “Trump of the Tropics”, Bolsonaro has also refused to have a Covid-19 shot and downplayed the epidemic’s severity.
Advertisement
Advertisement