Covid-19 Vaccine Could Be Produced in Rio by December, Says Fiocruz

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Provided everything goes according to plan, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) may start producing the vaccine against Covid-19 in December.

After production has begun, further registration and validation steps would still be required, before a potential distribution to the population; there is no definite date for that.

The drug is being developed in the Manguinhos laboratory, in northern Rio, in partnership with the University of Oxford. The vaccine being produced by Fiocruz is one of the most promising among the over 140 vaccines under testing in the world. The agreement with the university was announced on Saturday, June 27th by the Ministry of Health.

The agreement provides for the transfer of technology from Oxford University to Fiocruz, which will then be in a position to produce the vaccine.

In the first step, Fiocruz will work on the process of finalizing the vaccine. In other words, it will receive the technology and supplies to produce the doses. But the plan is for the institution to take over all the production chains in Brazil.

After being tested on animals, the production of the vaccine undergoes three stages. First, it starts to be tested in a small group until it reaches a large number of people.

Under the agreement, 30 million doses will be produced at Fiocruz. Distribution and administration to the public will only occur once the efficacy of immunization against Covid-19 has been proven.

Once the vaccine is approved, 15 million doses are expected to be produced in December this year. The remaining 15 million would be produced in January.

Priority will be given to risk groups, such as the elderly and the chronically ill, in addition to health professionals.

According to the Ministry of Health, after the first two deliveries, a further 70 million doses could be produced at Fiocruz for distribution by the National Health System (SUS). In all, the federal government is expected to spend R$1.5 billion on vaccine production by Fiocruz.

Source: G1