Brazil signs agreement to produce Chinese coronavirus vaccine, trials to begin July

On June 11, Brazilian officials announced an agreement with China's Sinovac Biotech to mass-produce its coronavirus vaccine in the state of Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo governor Joao Doria wrote in a tweet that the Butantan Institute, Brazil's leading research center has reached a partnership with Sinovac Biotech, and the test trials would begin in July with 9,000 volunteers.  

With over 805,649 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 41,058 deaths, Brazil is the world's second worst-hit country after the United States. In Sao Paulo, State Governor Joao Doria said in a press conference that the studies show that the novel coronavirus vaccine could be distributed by June 2021. Further, he said, the agreement between China and Brazil would allow the country to produce at large scale and immunize millions of Brazilians. Last month, Sinovac announced that it would produce at least a 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine while Sao Paulo State University Brazil said that over 2,000 Brazilian volunteers would be tested by Oxford from mid-June onwards, as per reports. 

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Politicization of disease never saves life

Speaking about the collaboration with China, Doria said that the politicization of disease has never saved a life, to the contrary at a press conference. While, last month, President Jair Bolsorano and his Cabinet criticized China of withholding information about the coronavirus from the world while addressing the nation on state television. Bolsonaro had also recommended that Brazilians must get back to work and restart the economy, as opposed to China’s containment strategy of lockdown to stem the transmission.  

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had earlier downplayed the severity of the novel coronavirus which has impacted the Latin American nation in the worst way possible. As per media reports, the President called the virus a “little flu” and criticized media for sparking “sense of dread” and “hysteria” over the pandemic. Further, he also frequently targeted Brazilian authorities including governors and mayors for adhering to the social distancing norms recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and denounced the self-quarantine. A few weeks ago, in the video published on Twitter and YouTube, Jair Bolsonaro was seen embracing the crowd of supporters as he posed for pictures inside the bakery and out on the street near the presidential palace. 

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(Image Credit: AP)