President: Gov’t to offer free, non-mandatory vaccine

President Jair Bolsonaro said Tuesday (Dec. 7) that Brazil’s federal government will offer a non-mandatory vaccine against COVID-19 to everyone free of charge.

“Provided Anvisa [Brazil’s national sanitary regulator] grants its certification (scientific guidance and legal precepts), the government will offer the vaccine to everyone. It will be free and non-mandatory,” he tweeted.

Bolsonaro, who met early on with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, went on to note that the funding for the acquisition of the vaccines is guaranteed.

“We will not fall short of funding to reach everyone.”

The Health Ministry has inked a deal for the purchase of doses produced by UK pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca in collaboration with Oxford University, including a pact of technology transfer and local production of the vaccine by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz).

The federal government has been in contact with other foreign laboratories developing doses against COVID-19 which, if approved, may also be acquired to immunize the population.

Vaccination in São Paulo

On Monday, the state government of São Paulo unveiled a state-wide vaccination plan against COVID-19 to kick off on January 25, starting with elders and health agents.

The state government has worked to purchase vaccine CoronaVac, developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac in partnership with the Butantan Institute. The immunizer is yet to be registered by Anvisa—the stage required before the dose is administered to the population.