By Maria Carolina Marcello
BRAZIL (Reuters) – A coronavirus variant identified in the Brazilian Amazon could be three times more contagious, but early analysis suggests vaccines are still effective against it, the country’s health minister said on Thursday without evidence. deliver for the allegations.
Under pressure as the variant hampers the jungle city of Manaus through a devastating second wave of infections, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello wanted to reassure lawmakers that the boom of recent months is unexpected but coming under control.
He also said during a Senate hearing that by June Brazil would vaccinate half of the eligible population and the rest by the end of the year – an ambitious target because the country has barely doses for half of the population guarantees.
Brazil started vaccinations about three weeks ago, which were vaccinated by Chinese Sinovac Biotech and the British AstraZeneca. Pazuello did not explain how its effectiveness against the Manaus variant was analyzed.
“Thank God, we had clear news from the analysis that the vaccines still have an effect on this variant,” Pazuello said. “But it’s more contagious. According to our analysis, it’s three times more contagious.”
The Ministry of Health, which did not provide information on such an analysis, did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
The Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, which worked with Sinovac to test and manufacture the Chinese vaccine, said in a statement that it had begun studies on the Manaus variant but would not draw a conclusion for two weeks. have not.
The Fiocruz Biomedical Center in Rio de Janeiro, which has partnered with AstraZeneca to supplement and finalize the doses of the vaccine developed with the University of Oxford, said it’s effective against the Amazon. studied variant, sent samples to Oxford and awaited the result.
(Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Additional reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Brad Haynes and Sam Holmes)