RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – American pharmaceutical company Pfizer reiterated that in the next 3 months it will supply Brazil with some 90 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, confirming Ministry of Health’s projections. The company also confirmed that between October and December another 100 million doses will reach the country.
The Ministry has two contracts with Pfizer for the acquisition of 200 million doses and there is at least one offer from the company for a potential third contract for 2022.
However, the company’s management in Brazil said it would not comment on negotiations with the Brazilian government. It further said that it is not yet clear whether the population vaccinated with two doses will need a third booster dose next year.
“There is no definitive answer on this topic,” Pfizer said in a statement. “Volunteers who participated in the phase 3 clinical trials are still being monitored in order to reach a definitive answer regarding the third dose or possible booster doses.”
As for the 2 contracts signed with the federal government, the laboratory said it has so far delivered more than 10 million doses. The vaccines are imported.
“We reiterate our commitment to Brazil for the delivery of 200 million doses of our vaccine by the end of 2021 according to schedule set out in the contract, which considers 100 million doses delivered by the end of the third quarter and another 100 million during the fourth quarter,” the company said.
According to the latest report released on Wednesday last week by the Ministry with Covid-19 vaccine delivery projections, Pfizer is expected to deliver 15 million doses in July and 69,483,360 between August and September. In the same report, it is stated that just over 3.5 million doses were received between April and May and there will be 12 million more by the end of June.
The Ministry’s projection also considers that 99,999,900 Pfizer vaccine doses will reach Brazil between October and December.
On Monday last week, President Jair Bolsonaro met with Pfizer’s executive for Latin America Carlos Murillo and with the company’s president in Brazil Marta Díez. Minister of Health Marcelo Queiroga also attended the meeting. At the time, the company representatives were urged to anticipate the delivery of the vaccine doses.
On the following Wednesday, the Ministry announced an increase in Pfizer’s delivery projections for July. Instead of the 8 million expected the previous week, the forecast jumped to 15 million doses.
Pfizer told the report that the deliveries scheduled for July are part of the amounts stipulated for the third quarter. “There is no change in the company’s production routine or impact for other countries,” the company said when asked if the increased delivery forecast in July could somehow affect the company’s schedule for supplying immunizers to other markets.
In May, Carlos Murillo stated in his testimony to the Senate Covid CPI (investigative committee) that the company made at least 6 offers to supply up to 70 million doses of its vaccine to Brazil. The offers had been made between August last year and February this year, but no official answer was forthcoming at the time. The first contract was signed in March and the second in May.
The other two large contracts signed by the Ministry of Health for the purchase of anti-Covid vaccines involve the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), which has a partnership in Brazil with European AstraZeneca/Oxford. The forecast is that by December 210 million doses will have been delivered by Fiocruz.
The Ministry has also contracted 100 million doses from the Butantan Institute with delivery expected to be completed in September.
Source: Valor