SÃO PAULO: The administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has withdrawn from its criticism of Chinese vaccines and has agreed to buy up to 100 million doses of a shot that is being developed by the Chinese Sinovac, as Latin America is faces an increase in Covid-19 vacations.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain who followed President Trump’s leadership to attack China, has long discredited the Sinovac vaccine, which has been tested by a state research center in an association backed by his political rival, the governor of São Paulo, João Doria. Just two months ago, Mr Bolsonaro told his supporters that the vaccine, CoronaVac, could kill or inactivate them without offering evidence and refused to buy it.
But in recent months, the Chinese vaccine has become one of Brazil’s best bets to fight a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people here, second only to the United States.
The Ministry of Health said on Thursday afternoon that it had signed a contract with the Butantan Institute, the state research center in São Paulo that has been testing and producing CoronaVac, to buy 46 million doses. The ministry said it has the option to buy 54 million more, enough to vaccinate 50 million people with two doses, or about a quarter of Brazil’s population.
Latin America is running to get doses as cases increase across the region. This week, hundreds of thousands of people tested positive in Latin America, after defying government warnings and holding large family reunions during vacations and crowded beaches in the early summer in the southern hemisphere. With only 8% of the world’s population, Latin America has accounted for about 30% of Covid-19 deaths.