FILE PHOTO: A nurse puts on a bandage after administering China's SinoVac coronavirus potential vaccine to volunteer and doctor Ivan Franca at Emilio Ribas Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil July 30, 2020. REUTERS/Amanda PerobelliBRASILIA: Brazilian officials say they can start making COVID-19 vaccines developed by British and Chinese researchers within a year. Experts say it will take at least twice as long, leaving Brazil reliant on imports to slow the world's second-worst outbreak.
The institutes say production of new vaccines will begin by the middle of 2021. Brazil's federal government has said it will invest 1.9 billion reais to process and produce the AstraZeneca vaccine. "A tech transfer process lasts five to 10 years, on average. When Brazil has the complete technology, a COVID-19 vaccine will probably not be necessary anymore," the ex-Anvisa head said, adding that Brazil is likely to have to purchase vaccines rather than produce them domestically, for the foreseeable future.
Sao Paulo's state government, Fiocruz, Butantan, AstraZeneca and Sinovac did not respond to requests for comment.Brazil's state and federal governments are discussing additional late-stage coronavirus vaccine trials with US drugmaker Pfizer, China's Sinopharm Group and Russian diplomats. The federal government's memorandum of understanding with AstraZeneca requires it to buy 30 million doses of its still-unproven vaccine at a cost of US$97 million, even if it fails in pivotal trials. The deal gives Brazil priority to buy 70 million more doses if the vaccine works.
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