Coronavirus: Brazil’s Butantan Institute to sell Sinovac shots abroad after Jair Bolsonaro rebuffs ‘Chinese vaccine’
- The institute is in talks to supply locally manufactured doses to other nations in South America and Africa, as the federal government has not ordered more
- Butantan is producing the shot using inputs imported from China, but it aims to complete a factory for 100 per cent local production by early next year
Butantan Director Dimas Covas said on Wednesday that the institute also has contracts to supply the vaccine directly to Brazilian states.
Butantan is currently producing the shot developed by Sinovac Biotech in the Sao Paulo state using inputs imported from China, but it aims to complete a factory for 100 per cent local production by early next year.
Earlier this month, Butantan completed its contract to deliver 100 million doses the vaccine, known as CoronaVac, to Brazil’s Health Ministry, without another deal in place.
02:02
Nurses in Brazil help isolated patients fight Covid-19 with warm latex gloves
President Jair Bolsonaro has expressed scepticism at what he calls the “Chinese vaccine”, taunting Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria, a political rival, for data showing the shot is less effective than others at preventing Covid-19 symptoms.
CoronaVac was the first vaccine available in Brazil in January, when Butantan and the Sao Paulo state government offered to supply the vaccines to Bolsonaro’s administration.
The federal government took longer to secure alternative vaccines in substantial volumes, facing criticisms for a slow and patchy immunisation roll-out as the death toll soared.
Why is Brazil’s President Bolsonaro eating pizza on the street in New York?
Brazil has recorded nearly 600,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the world’s deadliest outbreak outside the United States.
The health ministry is now also receiving large shipments of vaccines from Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, with the government saying it will prioritise using Pfizer booster shots.
