SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil recorded 1,803 new deaths on Sunday from COVID-19, as a large study found that a Chinese vaccine that has become the highlight of the country’s vaccination campaign is 50.7% effective against the new variant infectious of the house known as P1.
Brazil, which in recent weeks has become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, has registered more than 37,000 new cases, the Ministry of Health said on Sunday. With over 353,000 deaths, the largest country in Latin America has the second largest number of deaths in the world after coronavirus, after the United States.
The outbreak has recently reached its most severe phase due to a lack of federal restrictions, an uneven vaccine launch and the P1 variant.
The Butantan Biomedical Institute in Sao Paulo, which is now testing and producing the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd in China, said on Sunday, in a study it found that the shot has an effectiveness rate of 50.7% compared to variant P1 and a less common strain known as P2.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a shock and vaccine falcon from China who was put under fire for managing the outbreak, initially said his government would not buy the Sinovac fire, but later made a comeback as his government struggled to and provide supplies. Since then, the Chinese shooting has become the most administered in the country.
Butantan said that if the second dose is delayed by more than two weeks, the effectiveness increases to 62.3%. The vaccine is 83.7% to 100% effective in preventing infected people from needing medical care, he said.
The study, which he said was sent to the medical journal The Lancet for publication, tested 12,400 volunteers across Brazil.
Reporting by Alexandre Caverni; Montage by Peter Cooney