Brazil OKs 2 Million AstraZeneca Vaccine Imports from India, Not Yet Approved for Use

Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved two million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine imports from India on late Saturday even though the jab is yet to be approved for use in the country.

The request for AstraZeneca vaccine imports against coronavirus was made by Brazil's government-affiliated biomedical center Fiocruz on Thursday, said a report from Reuters.

An early approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine imports ahead of a regulator nod will allow distribution of the vaccine to move faster, as soon as Anvisa deems it safe for use in Brazil.

Al Jazeera also pointed out that the shipment of the British drugmaker will avoid export restrictions that could delay immunizations.

A vaccine against the coronavirus has not yet been approved in Brazil.

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The country has recorded its second-deadliest outbreak, just behind the United States. It has the third highest case tally of cases, with the health ministry registering over 7.7 million cases.

The U.S. and India have the highest and second-highest case count.

Fiocruz Brazil to Apply for Emergency Use for AstraZeneca Vaccine Imports

Fiocruz president Nisia Trindade said last week that the agency will apply for emergency use of the vaccine on Wednesday.

In this process, Fiocruz will be in charge of storing and maintaining the quality of the vaccines until they are approved for Brazilian use.

They are projected to arrive in Brazil later this month, said a report from Brazil-Arab News Agency.

The vaccine to be imported was produced through the Serum Institute of India. AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine was approved in India.

Brazil to Have One Million AstraZeneca Vaccine Imports by February

Fiocruz Institute's plans is to import the AstraZeneca vaccines in bulk, filling and finishing doses locally would yield only about a million doses by the second week of February, Trindade told Reuters last week.

While the AstraZeneca vaccine is still rolling out, Brazil's private clinics struck a preliminary deal for an alternative jab developed by Indian biotech company Bharat Biotech.

Five million doses of the vaccine are expected to come from the company despite lack of public interest in the Indian company's late-stage trials, noted Al Jazeera.

Bharat Biotech, just like AstraZeneca, has not yet applied for approval from health regulators.

Read also: Portuguese Health Worker Dies Two Days After Receiving Pfizer Vaccine, Autopsy Results Unknown

This struggle faced by Brazil, both in the public and private sector, shows how Latin America's largest nation has fallen behind in immunizations against the virus.

As its neighboring countries such as Chile, where inoculations are already underway, made leaps in distributing vaccines, Brazil is still struggling to meet the vaccine needs of the country.

Indian Government May Block AstraZeneca Vaccine Imports to Brazil

To add to the struggle in vaccinations, the chief executive of the Serum Institute of India said their country's government might block the exportation of COVID-19 vaccines.

This possibility raises some red flags in Brazil and the pending two million AstraZeneca vaccine imports.

So far, diplomats are still working towards confirmation that the said shipments won't be affected by the export ban, two people familiar with the matter said.

Fiocruz was said to be involved in this discussion and confirmed that the Brazilian Foreign Ministry was taking the lead in the talks.