BRAZIL (Reuters) – The Brazilian government has been in talks since March 13 about the possible import of excess COVID-19 vaccines from the United States, the Brazilian foreign ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.
The State Department and the Brazilian embassy in Washington, in collaboration with the Department of Health, are negotiating with the U.S. government, according to the ministry’s tweet.
The White House on Friday announced plans to “lend” 4 million AstraZeneca shots already manufactured in the United States to Canada and Mexico. The White House does not plan to lend doses to other countries.
Brazil is facing the world’s second deadliest outbreak of coronavirus, which has been exacerbated in recent weeks by a new wave that has pushed the hospital system to the brink of collapse. The Ministry of Health on Friday reported a daily record of 90,570 new cases in the preceding 24 hours, as well as the second deadliest day since the pandemic.
The federal government has slowed the vaccinations in the country, and some local governments have had to halt the vaccinations at various points due to lack of supplies.
Reuters reported on Friday that the Brazilian government had not asked the United States for excess vaccines, despite plans to share doses with Mexico and Canada, citing two people familiar with the matter.
(Reporting by Jake Spring and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Grant McCool and Daniel Wallis)