Brazil on Saturday began distributing the 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine that arrived from India Friday, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: Brazil has the third highest COVID-19 case-count in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The 2 million doses “only scratch the surface of the shortfall,” Brazilian public health experts told the AP.
The big picture: Brazil started its vaccination campaign Monday, per the New York Times, using China’s Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine which was found to be 78% effective in Brazil trials.
- Brazils Butantan Institute, a medical research institute in São Paulo, made 6 million CoronaVac doses imported from China available, and it used materials imported from China to bottle an additional 4.8 million doses, per AP.
- A flight from India planned for last week was delayed, derailing Brazil’s plan to kick off its immunization with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
- Brazils federally funded Fiocruz Institute has an agreement to produce up to 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.