Brazilian officials on Thursday announced an agreement with China's Sinovac Biotech to produce its coronavirus vaccine in the state of Sao Paulo, where tests involving 9,000 volunteers are to begin next month.

Brazil has the world's second-highest coronavirus caseload after the United States, with more than 770,000 confirmed infections and nearly 40,000 deaths.

Sao Paulo governor Joao Doria told a news conference that the Butantan Institute, Brazil's leading research center, had reached a technology transfer agreement with Sinovac Biotech.

"The studies show that the vaccine could be distributed by June 2021," if tests prove conclusive, Doria said.

"This agreement would allow us to produce at large scale and immunize millions of Brazilians."

Sinovac Biotech, one of four Chinese laboratories authorized to conduct clinical vaccine trials, said a month ago that it was prepared to produce 100 million doses of the vaccine under the commercial name Coronavac.

In Sao Paulo, 9,000 volunteers will be injected with doses of that vaccine beginning in mid-July, in the third and final phase of testing.

Last week, Sao Paulo State University announced that a vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford will be tested among 2,000 Brazilian volunteers beginning in mid-June.

Doria used the unveiling of the Sinovac Biotech deal, which he described as "historic," to criticize President Jair Bolsonaro.

"We have had to overcome Brazil's disagreements with China, with other countries and with organizations like the WHO," he said, referring to criticism of China by several of Bolsonaro's cabinet ministers.

In March, one of the president's sons accused the Chinese "dictatorship" of hiding what it knew about the coronavirus, prompting Beijing to demand an apology.

Bolsonaro in recent days has also threatened to withdraw Brazil from the World Health Organization -- as the United States did last month -- accusing it of "ideological bias."

Alluding to the controversy, Doria said, "The politicization of disease has never saved a life, to the contrary."

Since the onset of the pandemic, Bolsonaro has clashed with state governors over stay-at-home measures that they've adopted to prevent the spread of the virus.

He has continued to press for a resumption of economic activities even though infections continue to rise.

Related Links
Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Overworked, underpaid Brazil nurses risk lives to care for patients
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (SPX) Jun 10, 2020
Hans Bossan is 40 hours into his 72-hour work week, but despite his marathon nursing shifts and the pandemic claiming an alarming number of his colleagues' lives in Brazil, he barely looks tired. Bossan works three jobs to provide for his wife and two-year-old daughter - at two different hospitals and a mobile emergency unit. Double and triple shifts like his are not unusual in Brazil, where the average salary for nurses, nursing assistants and health care technicians is just 3,000 reals ($ ... read more