Brazil to begin final-stage Covid-19 vaccine test today

BRASILIA: Brazil will today begin advanced clinical testing of a Chinesemade vaccine against the new coronavirus, issuing the first doses to around 900 volunteers.

The vaccine, developed by private Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, is the third in the world to enter Phase 3 trials — large-scale testing on humans — the last step before regulatory approval.

It will be administered to doctors and other health workers who volunteer for the programme across six states in Brazil.

“Trials of CoronaVac, one of the vaccines that has advanced furthest in testing in the world, will begin at the Clinical Hospital of Sao Paulo,” said the state’s governor, Joao Doria.

He said initial results were expected within 90 days.

Sinovac is partnering with a Brazilian public health research center, the Butantan Institute, on the trials.

If the vaccine proves safe and effective, the institute will have the right to produce 120 million doses under the deal, according to officials.

“In Brazil, we could have the first vaccine to be put to widespread use, which is very, very promising,” said the head of the Butantan Institute, Dimas Covas.

Brazil is the second-hardest-hit country in the pandemic, after the United States, with more than 80,000 deaths and 2.1 million infections. Those grim figures make it an ideal testing ground for potential vaccines, since the virus is still spreading quickly.

The country is also testing another experimental vaccine, developed by Oxford University in Britain and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca. A third vaccine, developed by state-owned Chinese company Sinopharm, also entered Phase 3 trials this month in the United Arab Emirates.

They are the three most advanced of the dozens of projects worldwide by scientists racing to develop and test a vaccine against the new virus.