The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) on Sunday authorized the emergency use of vaccines from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac and the Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca, the last step to start immunization in Brazil, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic.
Unanimously, the five members of the collegiate management of the regulatory authority authorized this Sunday the emergency use of both antidotes, after a five-hour meeting, which was broadcast live, and in which they analyzed the opinions prepared by 50 people. from three technical areas.
Only a majority of votes were required to approve the vaccines, however, all members of the collegiate leadership opted for their use as an emergency.
Meiruze Freitas, the petitioner, was the first to vote and condition the application of the antidote to the signing and publication before February 28 of a commitment deadline on the vaccine’s ability to stimulate the immune system and produce antibodies. , the entity that produces in Brazil the vaccine developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac.
Requests for the use of antidotes in an emergency were sent to Anvisa on Friday, January 8, ten days ago, just a few hours away, after the vaccine’s effectiveness rates were revealed.
The first requirement was from the Chinese “Coronavac”, which is 50.4% efficient and was developed by the Sinovac laboratory and the Butantan Institute, one of the most prestigious medical research centers in Brazil and attached to the regional government of the state. from Sao Paulo.
The São Paulo government has already bought 46 million doses of the vaccine, of which 6 million are available and the rest are in production in Butantán.
Then came the one with the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which is 70% effective and was the commitment of the government of Jair Bolsonaro, who bought 100 million doses of antidote and negotiated the transfer of technology, so the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) can fully produce another 110 million.
Just over a week ago, the government of the far-right leader decided to include the Chinese vaccine in its national immunization plan and chose to buy 100 million doses of antidote from the Butantan Institute, including those that would be used. in Sao Paulo.
Both antidotes performed the three phases of testing in Brazil, one of the main requirements for Anvisa to authorize the emergency use of a vaccine.
With these two vaccines, the government has the green light to start the immunization campaign in Brazil at a time when the second wave of the pandemic is exploding, with half the country on alert due to rising deaths and infections and the state of the Amazon collapsed. due to lack of oxygen and crowded hospitals.
With about 210,000 deaths, Brazil is the second country in the world with the highest number of deaths, behind the United States and the third nation with the highest number of infected (8.4 million), after the North American country and India. .