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Widespread contagion, a huge number of scientists and a physically powerful vaccine production infrastructure have made Brazil an actor in vaccine research.
By Manuela Andreoni and Ernesto Londoo
RIO DE JANEIRO – The chaotic reaction to coronavirus in Brazil, where it killed more than 105,000 people, has led the country to revel in an uplifting history that many others around the world have watched with concern.
But as the country’s workload increased, vaccine researchers saw an opportunity.
With widespread and sustained contagion, a large number of vaccination experts, a physically powerful medical production infrastructure, and thousands of vaccine trial volunteers, Brazil has a potentially important player in the global race to end the pandemic.
According to the World Health Organization report on advances in vaccine research, 3 of the world’s most complex and promising vaccine studies depend on Brazilian scientists and volunteers.
The bese government expects its citizens to be among the first in the world to be vaccinated. And medical experts believe that the option that Brazil can even make the vaccine and export it to neighboring countries, a perspective that fills them with anything they’ve lacked this year: pride.
“I am very optimistic,” said Dimas Covas, director of the Butantan Institute, a world-renowned biopharmaceutical manufacturer who partners with Sinovac of China in one of the studies that has reached the third level of research, testing prospective vaccines. . 9, 000 people.
“Brazil will be one of the first to receive the vaccine.”
Some 5,000 Brazilians have also been recruited for a vaccine trial conducted through AstraZeneca, an Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company in partnership with the University of Oxford. In Brazil, another 1,000 volunteers were recruited to test a vaccine developed through New York-based Pfizer.
Researchers want countries with outbreaks giant enough to assess whether a vaccine will work. Some volunteers get the prospective vaccine, while others get a position, however, they should be in a position where enough viruses circulate to check the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Brazil, where the virus has inflamed more than 3 million people, has transparent situations for these trials. And it will be the only country besides the United States that will play a leading role in 3 of the primary studies, as an unprecedented search for a vaccine has led to exceptionally immediate regulatory approvals and negotiated partnerships.
However, it is safe, according to experts, that vaccine trials being conducted in Brazil will win the race.
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