Fiocruz supports alternatives to hasten vaccination in Brazil

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) has been promoting efforts to save lives and contribute to vaccinate Brazilians as soon as possible. The search for doses of the vaccine against Covid-19 has always been on the table during negotiations with AstraZeneca. At a recent meeting with the Ministry of Health and Fiocruz, AstraZeneca presented the current scenario and the feasibility of delivering to the Brazilian government ready doses to bring forward the beginning of the vaccination process and therefore reducing the serious problems caused by the pandemic.

The registration of the vaccine in the United Kingdom on last December 30th blazed the trail to have it accepted in other countries, such as Argentina and India, and therefore to the approval of the exceptional request of importing two million ready doses submitted by Fiocruz to the Brazilian National Agency of Health Surveillance (Anvisa), in addition to the request of authorization for emergency use, which was formally submitted to Anvisa this Friday, January 8. Fiocruz will be acquiring the ready vaccines from the Serum Institute in India, one of the production centers for the vaccine. 

The strategy is to help kickstart the vaccination program as early as January, with the imported doses, according to the National Plan of Vaccination Against Covid-19, all the while beginning production in the country, according to the planned schedule. The definitive deadline for registration is January 15th and the arrival of the first batches of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) is scheduled for January.

By July 2021, the institution will be delivering 110.4 million doses to the National Plan of Vaccination Against Covid-19; the first delivery, containing one million doses, will take place during the week between 8 and 12th February. After concluding the incorporation of the technology, Fiocruz will be capable of producing an additional 110 million doses in the second semester of 2021. In this manner, Fiocruz once again confirms its commitment to public health and the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS, in the Portuguese acronym).