RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Another 3,000 liters of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) needed for CoronaVac production landed in São Paulo on May 25. The Butantan Institute will produce 5 million vaccine doses with the raw material. Deliveries of finished doses are scheduled for June.
The raw materials are shipped by Sinovac biopharmaceutical company and undergo bottling, labeling, packaging and quality control processes in Brazil.
According to the São Paulo state government, the whole process takes, on average, 15 to 20 days. Once ready, the doses are delivered to the Ministry of Health’s National Immunization Program (PNI).
API deliveries have been made since late 2020; so far the material has yielded 3.8 million doses. In February, 11,000 liters were delivered, in March, 8,200 liters, and in April, 3,000 liters. In all, the institute has delivered 47.2 million doses to the PNI using that material.
According to Butantan, the amount fulfills the first contract of 46 million vaccines, signed on January 7 with the Ministry of Health. The second contract provides for the delivery of another 54 million doses.
The institute expects to complete the construction of a new plant in September, which will enable full production in Brazil as of December, without the need to import raw material. The Butantan plant’s production capacity is expected to reach 100 million doses per year.