Live
Audio Only
A test with 9,000 volunteers will be carried away in Sao Paulo next month.
Brazil will produce a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine after reaching an agreement with China's Sinovac Biotech, Sao Paulo governor Joao Doria announced on Thursday.
RELATED:
The production will start at Butantan Institute, located in Sao Paulo state, where tests involving 9,000 volunteers will be underway next month.
"The studies show that the vaccine could be distributed by June 2020, if tests prove conclusive," Doria said. "This agreement would allow us to produce at large scale and immunize millions of Brazilians."
Hoje é um dia histórico para a ciência no Brasil e em SP. Vamos anunciar que São Paulo vai produzir a vacina contra o coronavírus, através de parceria entre o Instituto Butantan e o laboratório internacional Sinovac Biotech. pic.twitter.com/ZPS6uDuVR8
— João Doria (@jdoriajr) June 11, 2020
Sinovac Biotech recently informed they were ready to produce 100 million doses of the vaccine. The name that will be used to commercialize it will be Coronavac.
"We have had to overcome Brazil's disagreements with China, with other countries and with organizations like the WHO," Doria stressed, throwing a dart to President Jair Bolsonaro's criticism of China. Beijing demanded an apology in March after one of Bolsonaro's sons accused China of hiding information regarding the pandemic.
In another hand, Sao Paulo State University stated last week that in mid-June 2,000 Brazilian volunteers will be also tested with a vaccine that is being developed by the University of Oxford.
Both announcements arrive in a very delicate moment for the South American nation for its death toll surpasses 40,000 deaths, with more than 770,000 confirmed infections. Only U.S numbers show a worst caseload.
Newsletter
