A nurse received Brazil’s first dose of Covid-19 vaccine after regulators emergency two conditions.
Regulator Anvisa has given the green light to vaccines from Oxford-AstraZeneca and China’s Sinovac, the doses of which will be distributed among all 27 states.
Brazil has the second highest death rate in the world due to Covid-19 and cases are rising again throughout the country.
President Jair Bolsonaro has been heavily criticized for his handling of the pandemic.
The far-right leader played down the pandemic from the outset, promoting untested treatment for the disease and advocating against measures including wearing a mask and social distance.
The president, who captured and recovered Covid-19 last year, said he would not take a vaccine.
Authorities reported 551 new deaths on Sunday, the first time in six days that it was less than 1,000, though that may reflect a delay in reporting the numbers over the weekend.
In all, more than 209,000 Covid deaths were recorded in Brazil, a raw total figure exceeded by the US alone.
More than 8.4 million infections have been confirmed since the onset of the pandemic – the third highest in the world.
Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello told reporters that the country’s national vaccination program of 211 million people would begin in earnest in the coming days. Two Brazilian biomedical centers that have given approval to produce the samples will be strongly involved.
Approximately six million doses of the CoronaVac developed by Sinovac have already been produced in Brazil, while the government is waiting for the shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine from a laboratory in India.
Shortly after the board of Anvisa granted emergency permission, Monica Calazans, a 54-year-old nurse in São Paulo, became the first person to be vaccinated with CoronaVac.
Her vaccination was organized by the state government of São Paulo, led by Bolsonaro’s main political rival, João Doria.
A hardly good news
This was a rare good news today for Brazilians struggling with a devastating second wave.
From where I am, the city of Manaus, the vaccine does not really feel right. People here are trying to repair a collapsing health system and do what they can to keep their sick family members alive.
The pandemic became deeply political in Brazil. President Bolsonaro goes on to introduce himself as a vaccine skeptic and he was particularly absent because the vaccines were approved. Instead, São Paulo’s governor, Doria, will no doubt make headlines on Monday’s newspapers.
He is expected to run in next year’s presidential election and has supported the Sinovac vaccine from the outset. He was once an ally of Bolsonaro and is now his arch-enemy – but there is no doubt about who is at the forefront of getting the population vaccinated.
Earlier this week, researchers said the Chinese vaccine is 50.4% effective in Brazilian clinical trials. The results showed that it was significantly less effective than previous data suggested – barely more than the 50% required for regulatory approval.
CoronaVac is also used in China, Indonesia and Turkey.
The news comes after revelations that a new coronavirus variant has emerged in Brazil. Several cases have been returned to the Amazon state, where a state of emergency exists.
Manaus, the capital of the state, was particularly hard hit, with beds and life-saving oxygen being scarce. Chilled containers were also brought to hospitals to help store bodies.
Neighboring Venezuela said it had sent a convoy of trucks with oxygen supplies to help Amazon.
President Bolsonaro has come under increasing criticism for his handling of the outbreak of Brazil, and several protests against the government were held last week.
As an opponent of locks, he has previously blamed state governors and mayors for the Covid crisis, saying the federal government has provided all the necessary resources to tackle the virus.