The Chinese government has informed the Brazilian Health Ministry that it will send a less than expected amount of input for the Coronavac vaccine production. The reduced batch may arrive in Brazil on May 26th. The input is necessary so that the Butantan Institute can resume the vaccine production, suspended since the 14th due to lack of raw material.

Initially, the arrival of 4,000 liters of IFA had been announced; now, the confirmed amount is only 3,000 liters.

This reduction will directly impact the total doses that will be produced by Butantan and delivered to the national vaccination program from the Health Ministry. According to the Institute, instead of 7 million doses, it will be possible to deliver only 5 million.

Butantan also said that there is a possibility of a delay in the vaccine production expected for June. The contract between Butantan and the Health Ministry included the delivery of 54 million doses by September.

Reaction – On Sunday, 16, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga denied that the reduction in the batch inputs by the Chinese government is related to diplomatic issues between Brazil and China. According to Queiroga, there is a global shortage of input.