Brazil's biggest state, Sao Paulo, declared new "code red" restrictions over COVID-19 Wednesday, ordering non-essential businesses closed for two weeks as an explosion of cases swept the country.
Brazilian health regulator Anvisa on Sunday opened an extraordinary meeting of its board of directors to decide whether to approve emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines from China's Sinovac Biotech and Britain's AstraZeneca to begin immunizations as the pandemic enters a deadly.
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BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian health regulator Anvisa on Sunday approved emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd and Britain’s AstraZeneca, clearing the way for immunizations as the pandemic enters a deadly second wave.
Minutes after Anvisa’s board voted unanimously to approve both vaccines, Monica Calazans, a 54-year-old nurse in Sao Paulo, became the first person to be inoculated in the country, receiving the Chinese vaccine known as CoronaVac.
President Jair Bolsonaro, a coronavirus skeptic who has refused to take a vaccine himself, is under growing pressure to start inoculations in Brazil, which has lost more than 200,000 to COVID-19 – the worst death toll outside the United States.
Brazil's vaccination program has begun after emergency approval was granted for the vaccines produced by Sinovac and AstraZeneca. Australia says it may not fully reopen its borders this year. Follow DW for the latest.