Bolsonaro Signs Provisional Measure Earmarking R$1.9 Billion to Manufacture Oxford Vaccine

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Thursday, August 6th, President Jair Bolsonaro signed a provisional measure that grants a budget credit of R$1.9 billion (US$380 million) to ensure the purchase of 100 million doses, as well as the subsequent domestic production of the potential vaccine against Covid-19 developed by the British laboratory AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.

The amount will be directed to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation – Fiocruz – which will be preparing to produce the vaccine independently, should its efficacy and safety be confirmed.

The Brazilian government’s agreement calls for the purchase of 30 million doses of the vaccine, to be delivered in December this year and January next year, and the option of acquiring a further 70 million doses if the vaccine is proven to be effective and safe. Given that the vaccine is still in its trial phase, Brazil is assuming part of the investment risks should the immunization fail.

The formula developed at Oxford is considered by the World Health Organization to be one of the most advanced in the world. In phases 1 and 2, the vaccine yielded positive results and produced an immune response, according to a study recently published in The Lancet.

The product is currently in phase 3, which will assess its efficacy in human volunteers. Since June 23rd, 5,000 Brazilian healthcare professionals have been chosen to be administered doses in this trial stage.

In this process, half of the volunteers are administered the vaccine and the other half a placebo, but only researchers are aware of who took which. It is a single-dose trial. In addition to Brazil, phase 3 trials are also being conducted in the UK and South Africa.

At the ceremony, Bolsonaro said that immunization can be “a reality” in December or January and that weeks later the “problem will be overcome.”

“Maybe in December or January we could have a vaccine, and then the problem will be over, a few weeks later. Most importantly, along with this vaccine, which is different from the one a governor has agreed with another country, comes the technology for us. We can say that we have done everything possible and impossible to save lives, despite those who insist on saying otherwise,” he said.

The National Congress has 120 days to approve and codify this extraordinary credit, but the money will be released as soon as the text is published in the Federal Gazette.

Technological acquisition

Last Friday, Fiocruz signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to guarantee the transfer of technology developed by the laboratory and the university to secure the production of vaccines in the country.

The Ministry of Health says the amount will be distributed as follows: R$1.3 billion for payments to AstraZeneca, as provided in the Technological Order contract; R$522.1 million to produce the vaccine at Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos; and R$95.6 million for transfer of the technology to Fiocruz.

“If the vaccine proves to be truly effective, given that we are highly regarded in the region and have a large production capacity, the agreement with AstraZeneca will also allow us to be in charge of supplying the vaccine to Latin America,” Fiocruz president Nísia Trindade Lima said in a press release.

Source: Reuters