Brazilian health regulator Anvisa announced on Friday that it authorized the definitive registration of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine. The vaccine against COVID-19 was already authorized for emergency use, just like CoronaVac, and now it is the second immunizer to obtain definitive registration – the first was given to the Pfizer vaccine, although this vaccine has not yet been purchased by Brazil.

The definitive authorization for AstraZeneca/Oxford happens when at least nine European countries suspend its use, as reported by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. According to the European health authorities, this is a preventive measure to check for alleged side effects. The countries that have temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca/Oxford are Italy, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Luxembourg.

Besides, the United States Government, a country that stores 30 million doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford, although its emergency use has not yet been authorized, would be considering the possibility of donating batches of the immunizer to Brazil, according to a report by The New York Times.

Brazilian Ministry of Health acquires 10 million doses of Sputnik vaccine

Parallel to the discussions on AstraZeneca/Oxford, the Brazilian Federal Government reported that it signed the contract for the purchase of 10 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V. According to the schedule released by the government, the first 400.000 doses may arrive in Brazil by the end of April, and the rest of the pack until June. The Sputnik vaccine is not yet authorized for emergency use in Brazil.