Brazil on Saturday began distributing the 2 million doses of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine that arrived from India on Friday, Reuters reports.
Why does it matter: Brazil has the third largest number of COVID-19 cases in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. The 2 million doses “only scratch the surface of the deficit,” Brazilian public health experts told the PA.
The whole picture: Brazil began its vaccination campaign on Monday, according to the New York Times, using China’s Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine – which has been shown to be 78% effective in studies in Brazil.
- The Butantan Institute in Brazil, a medical research institute in São Paulo, provided 6 million doses of CoronaVac imported from China and used materials imported from China to bottle another 4.8 million doses on AP.
- A flight from India scheduled for last week has been delayed, derailing Brazil’s plan to begin vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
- The federally funded Fiocruz Institute in Brazil has an agreement to produce up to 100 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.