The obvious change of direction, following comments against China on social media through some of Bolsonaro’s supporters, has softened a latent debate about vaccine policy between the president and key governors, who have explored the AstraZeneca vaccine that the federal government has prioritized. .
On Tuesday, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said in assembly with state governors that the ministry would purchase the Sinovac vaccine to accompany it in the vaccination program, as well as the AstraZeneca vaccine evolved with the University of Oxford, this inclusion would be conditional on approval through drug regulator Anvisa, he said.
The ministry of fitness announced wednesday that Pazuello had tested the virus, making him the last Brazilian official, adding Bolsonaro, to do so.
The State Biomedical Research Center, the Butantan Institute, is testing the Sinovac vaccine, and Governor Joo Doria said it hoped to obtain regulatory approval until the end of the year to start vaccinating others in January.
But Bolsonaro said Wednesday that Pazuello had been misinterpreted the assembly with Brazilian governors.
“Of course we’ll buy the Chinese vaccine,” Bolsonaro said on social media, in response to a supporter who suggested he buy the vaccine.
Later in the morning, Ministry of Health holder Elcio Franco said all vaccines would be forced through federal health approval channels, but that the government is not interested in “Chinese vaccines. “
Doria, who announced Tuesday that the fed had agreed to buy 46 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, objected to this position on Wednesday.
“The vaccine is what will save us, it will save us all,” he says.
“It’s not an ideology, it’s not politics, it’s not a choice that saves us. It’s the vaccine,” Added Doria, who is perceived as a possible opponent of Bolsonaro in the election. 2022 presidential election.
Brazil is among the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, with more than 5 million infections and nearly 1,500,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to a Reuters tally.
The inclusion of the vaccine, called CoronaVac, in a country’s national immunization program of 230 million more people would be a great fortune for Sinovac in what could be one of the world’s first coronavirus vaccination efforts.
The Brazilian government is already buying the AstraZeneca vaccine and generating it at its FioCruz biomedical studies center in Rio de Janeiro.
The Butantan Institute said Monday that the initial effects of CoronaVac’s complex clinical trials on 9,000 volunteers have shown that the Chinese two-dose vaccine is safe. Butantan director Dimas Covas said knowledge of efficacy will be published until the trials are completed.
Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who has approached U. S. President Donald Trump, has made derogatory comments about China in the past, even though he is Brazil’s largest trading partner.
He downplayed the severity of the virus and criticized the blockades imposed by governors like Doria.