Delay in Doses From India Raises Doubts on Start of Vaccination in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – One day after advising Mayors that the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 would begin next Wednesday, January 20th, the Ministry of Health finds itself questioned as to its ability to fulfill the pledge.

Indian government officials have been reporting to the press that Brazil “jumped the gun” by preparing a logistics operation to collect two million doses of the immunizer developed by Oxford University in partnership with AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company.

Asked about the issue during a weekly press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said it was too early to discuss vaccine exports, as India’s immunization program is scheduled to begin on Saturday.

“As you may know, the vaccination process is just beginning in India. It’s too early to give a specific answer on the supply to other countries, because we are still assessing the production and delivery schedules. We will make decisions about this in due time, it can take some time,” said the Indian newspaper The Hindustan Times.

The Airbus A330neo that will fly to Mumbai to pick up the 15 ton-lot ordered by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) to the Indian laboratory Serum is parked at Recife airport, after taking off on Thursday, January 14th, from Campinas. The aircraft is expected to leave the capital of Pernambuco at 11 PM, but there is no official indication that the schedule will be maintained.

According to Radar Econômico, the contract signed between the parties establishes that India has until April to send the doses that have already been paid by the Brazilian government. Indian authorities say that the vaccination program in that country is just beginning and that it is necessary to guarantee the access of Indians to the immunizer before fulfilling agreements signed with other governments.

Should it fail in securing AstraZeneca’s vaccine, the Ministry of Health could start the immunization program with the CoronaVac doses that are already on Brazilian soil.

However, the drug is dependent on the approval of the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) to be made available to the population. The vaccine produced by the Butantan Institute, together with the Chinese Sinovac laboratory, will be analyzed by the agency’s board of directors in a meeting scheduled for this Sunday, January 17th. ANVISA stated that the Butantan has failed to submit all the necessary documentation for the immunizer to be approved, which may delay the granting of the emergency use authorization.

ANVISA’s complaint about the lack of documentation also extends to Fiocruz, responsible for providing data on AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which will also have its efficacy assessed by the agency on Sunday. Should the agency claim that the data is inconclusive and rejects the vaccines’ emergency use, the Brazilian government will be prevented from meeting the date agreed with Mayors, even if the immunizers’ doses are already stored and ready for use in the country.