Brazil sending special plane to pick up Indian vaccines from Pune

Brazil, which reported more than 60,000 Coronavirus cases on Wednesday, second only to the United States, is sending a special plane to pick up Indian vaccines from Pune.

A Brazilian plane will fly to India on Wednesday to fetch the first 2 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine purchased by the government’s Fiocruz biomedical institute, Brazil’s health minister said on Wednesday.

According to a Reuters report from Sao Paulo, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said the documentation is ready for bringing the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine being produced at the Serum Institute of India.

Pazuello said the plane is expected to start the return trip on Jan. 16. The vaccine can be distributed only after federal health regulator Anvisa grants permission for its emergency use, he noted.

The Brazilian government is under pressure amid the slow pace of the country’s vaccine rollout. Inoculations have yet to begin in Latin America’s largest country and Anvisa not yet approved any vaccine for use.

Brazil’s Anvisa has scheduled a meeting for next Sunday to decide on the emergency use of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford as well as one by developed by China’s Sinovac Biotec.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already stated that "as the largest vaccine-producing country of the world.. India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis."

<strong>Bolivia too places order</strong>

Meanwhile the Bolivian government said on Wednesday it had signed a contract with India’s Serum Institute for the supply of 5 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.

President Luis Arce said that combined with a recent deal to buy 5.2 million Sputnik V vaccine doses from Russia, Bolivia now expected to be able to inoculate all of its vaccinable population.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already stated that "as the largest vaccine-producing country of the world.. India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis.".