SĂO PAULO – The administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has given up its criticism of Chinese vaccines and agreed to buy up to 100 million doses from a blow developed by China’s Sinovac as Latin America faces post-holiday growth in the Covid-19 cases.
Mr. Bolsonaro, a former army captain who followed President Trump in fighting China, has long discredited the Sinovac vaccine, which was tested by a state research center in a partnership backed by his political rival, São Paulo Governor. , João Doria. Just two months ago, Mr Bolsonaro told his supporters that the vaccine, CoronaVac, could kill or inactivate them without providing evidence, and he refused to buy it.
But in recent months, the Chinese vaccine has become one of Brazil’s best bets to fight a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people here, second only to the United States.
The Ministry of Health said late Thursday that it had signed a contract with the Butantan Institute, the state research center in São Paulo, which tests and produces CoronaVac, to buy 46 million doses. The ministry said it had the option to buy another 54 million, enough to immunize 50 million people with the two dose-shots, or about a quarter of Brazil’s population.
Latin America is struggling to secure doses as cases increase across the region. Hundreds of thousands of people tested positive in Latin America this week after defying government warnings and holding large family gatherings for holidays and crowded beaches in early summer in the southern hemisphere. With only 8% of the world’s population, Latin America accounted for almost 30% of Covid-19 deaths.