The bill was the latest in a series of efforts to chip away at the primacy of Brazil’s public system for distributing vaccines. The Brazilian public system is widely considered to be one of the most effective vaccine programs in the world, but failed to rise to the occasion under Bolsonaro’s leadership.
“Brazil’s vaccination campaigns are world renowned,” said Mellanie Fontes-Dutra, a biomedical scientist and researcher at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul who also works with the Covid-19 Analyst Network. “In this moment of crisis, we need ample, free, and universal access to Covid-19 vaccines.”
Timeline: Latin America s Road to Get Vaccinated as-coa.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from as-coa.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gabriel Stargardter
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Weeks after other Latin American countries began inoculating their citizens against coronavirus, Brazil finally administered its first shot on Jan. 17 using China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd vaccine.
With efficacy of just over 50% - barely above Brazil’s threshold for regulatory approval - the Chinese shot was not the government’s first choice. But for now, there is little else available.
The country’s principle strategy - to manufacture 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca PLC vaccine locally - has been plagued by repeated delays. That effort isn’t expected to yield a finished product until March at the earliest. AstraZeneca last week sent 2 million emergency doses to help Brazil get started. Meanwhile, Brazil’s Health Ministry has yet to sign deals with other vaccine makers.