Brazil eyes Covid antibody rollout in January: Minister

Brazil eyes Covid antibody rollout in January: Minister

Overview

  • Post By : Kumar Jeetendra

  • Source: Reuters

  • Date: 09 Sep,2020

Brazil’s acting Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello stated on Tuesday that a COVID-19 vaccine could be rolled out for all Brazilians in January 2021.

“We’re closing contracts with vaccine manufacturers and the forecast is that a vaccine will arrive for us starting in January next year and we will begin vaccinating everybody,” Eduardo Pazuello said in a video posted to social media.

Pazuello and other ministers were responding to questions from Esther Castilho, a 10-year-old YouTuber sporting a cowboy hat. Pazuello didn’t provide details on which vaccine would be rolled out.

Brazil has the third-worst outbreak of coronavirus globally with more than 4.1 million cases, passed this week by India for the next greatest number of cases after the United States.

The high number of cases has led several vaccine makers to find Brazil for clinical trials. The country is testing a potential vaccine from AstraZeneca and has signed a memorandum of understanding to receive 30 million doses of it.

Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, that has downplayed the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, on Tuesday repeated prior statements that vaccination wouldn’t be mandatory, even though the government would still mount a vaccine campaign.

“People cannot be injected with anything, or forced,” Bolsonaro stated in an afternoon event with Brazilian physicians.

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