Brazil’s health regulator has given the green light to the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Chinese-made Sinovac coronavirus vaccines, paving the way for Latin America’s largest nation to begin an immunisation programme that has been marred by delays and political bickering.
Following a marathon five-hour presentation broadcast live on Sunday, the board of watchdog Anvisa (the Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária) voted unanimously to grant emergency use approval to both vaccines in a country which has the second-highest Covid-19 death toll, at almost 210,000.
Shortly after the decision, a 54-year-old nurse from São Paulo became the first to receive an injection, as health minister Eduardo Pazuello said the country could reach up to 1m people vaccinated a day.