Fiocruz Institute, Brazil commences distribution of India-made AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Brazil’s federally funded Fiocruz Institute said it had begun distributing two million ready-to-use AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines after they arrived in the country from India on Friday.

Brazil’s government has a deal with AstraZeneca to produce up to 100 million doses of its vaccine locally at Rio de Janeiro’s Fiocruz Institute, but delivery of the active ingredient needed to manufacture them has been plagued by delays from China.

As a result, AstraZeneca agreed to supply the government with two million ready-to-use doses made in India by Serum Institute of India. After a major diplomatic effort, that included a letter from Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, those shots arrived on Friday.

Until now, Brazil’s vaccine rollout has depended on a shot developed by Sinovac Biotech vaccine in partnership with Sao Paulo’s Butantan Institute.