Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro issued a decree this Thursday to provide BRL 1.9 billion ($356 million) in funds to purchase and eventually produce a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca PLC and Oxford University researchers.

Brazil’s Acting Health Minister General Eduardo Pazuello said the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is the most promising in the world to fight the virus and the technology will be acquired by Brazil, which is facing the worst outbreak outside the United States.

On August 1st, the Osvaldo Cruz Foundation (FioCruz), linked to the Ministry of Health of Brazil, and AstraZeneca signed a document that will provide the basis for the agreement between the laboratories for the transfer of technology and production of 100 million doses of the vaccine in the country, if its effectiveness and safety are proven.

In July, scientists at the University of Oxford published an article in The Lancet, showing that, according to preliminary results, the university’s vaccine for COVID-19 is safe and induced an immune response.