Brazil will buy the Sinovac vaccine, the state governor said

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil’s federal government will buy 46 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine being developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd of China, the state governor said yesterday, as authorities rush to find vaccines in a free way for everyone who is confused sometimes.

Wellington Dias, the left-leaning governor of the north-eastern province of Piaui, said Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello told him about the federal government’s plan to buy the vaccine, which is being manufactured at the Instituto Butantan, a biomedical center in Sao province Paulo.

He told journalists he saw a copy of a production and delivery contract during a meeting with Pazuello, adding that 9 million doses were due for delivery on January 25.

In a statement, the Instituto Butantan said it had sent a proposal Wednesday to provide the vaccine in response to a request from the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pazuello had previously said in October that the government was planning to buy 46 million doses of CoronaVac, but Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro quickly said Pazuello had mistaken it.

A right-wing leader, a Chinese critic, has frequently ridiculed the CoronaVac vaccine, saying it is unreliable because of its “provenance.”

So far, the federal government’s main bet has been on the vaccine being produced by AstraZeneca PLC.

Bolsonaro’s stance has prompted considerable tension with political enemy Joao Doria, the governor of Sao Paulo and a likely contender in the 2022 presidential election, who has made a huge bet on CoronaVac and said state residents will begin receiving the vaccine on January 25.

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