Brazil To Remove Barriers To The Use Of Sputnik V Vaccine

On Tuesday, Brazil's Foreign Affairs Ministry Carlos Franca indicated that his country will use the Sputnik V vaccine as soon as the World Health Organization (WHO) approves it.

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"We must bring positions between our regulatory agencies to withdraw the current demand," he said after a meeting with the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry Sergey Lavrov, with whom he signed a diplomatic consultation agreement that will be in force until 2025.

Previously, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) approved the use of Sputnik V "with some conditions" and its officials recently visited Russia to learn about some technical characteristics of this COVID-19 vaccine.

Besides highlighting that Brazilian pharmaceutical companies such as Uniao Quimica have already signed agreements to produce Sputnik V, Franca indicated that 12.5 percent of Brazilians have already been fully immunized.

The tweet reads, "Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Bolsonaro's incompetence to govern, many people lost their jobs in Uberlandia. However, thanks to the solidarity of some people and institutions, community kitchens are guaranteeing the minimum for these families to survive."

On Monday, Brazilian media published a World Bank’s investigation on the levels of rejection of the COVID-19 vaccine in 24 Latin American countries. The data obtained indicate that President Jair Bolsonaro's anti-vax discourse is not supported even among those who voted for him.

According to this the WB survey, the highest rates of vaccine rejection are registered in Haiti, Jamaica, Dominica, and Saint Lucia. While 8 percent of Latin Americans do not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19, only 3 percent of Brazilians would not accept a vaccine.

"Bolsonaro's repeated statements casting doubts about the safety and efficacy of immunization have not found adherence in the Brazilian population," outlet UOL commented.