RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday (8), the UK government announced that it would accept the entry of foreigners immunized with vaccines emergency approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). The decision includes Coronavac, a vaccine developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac.
The measure, which includes another Chinese, Sinopharm Beijing, and the Indian Covaxin, must come into force on November 22.
In the case of Brazil, the vaccination certificate issued by the federal government must be presented.
Four immunizers were accepted by the UK: Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna, and Janssen. To enter the country, foreigners must have been vaccinated with the final dose (or the single dose, in the case of Janssen) 14 days before departure and will need to provide proof of complete immunization.
Coronavac’s abandonment
With the end of the Coronavac contract scheduled for October, the Brazilian Ministry of Health no longer intends to acquire new lots of vaccines, according to sources heard by Metrópoles newspaper.
“Coronavac is still with the emergency registration by Anvisa. Thus, future purchases (within next year’s planning) are no longer legally justified by a public agency in this situation,” claimed an integrant of the federal agency.
The internal discussion is also presented as a justification for the inexistence of authorization from the National Health Regulation Agency (Anvisa) for the application of Coronavac in teenagers.
Another argument is that the technical standards do not recommend, as a booster dose, the application of the formula developed in partnership between the Chinese laboratory Sinovac and the Butantan Institute.
The Ministry of Health also maintains that 100% of the population over 18 years old received the first dose. There are enough immunizers to ensure the second application for all Brazilians – including those who took Coronavac.