Through a consortium, governors of Northeastern Brazil purchased 37 million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. On Friday, however, the governor of the state of Piauí, Wellington Dias, who chairs the consortium, said that the doses would be part of the federal government’s National Immunization Plan (PNI), of the Unified Health System (SUS) – which means that they will not necessarily be used to immunize the population of the Northeast of the country.

The announcement was made after a Dias meeting with the Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello, and the Attorney General of the Union.

According to a video released by the governor’s office, the doses of the immunizing agent developed by the Gamaleya Institute will be distributed throughout the country, starting in April. The Ministry of Health will have the role of intervening in the process.

Also, on Friday, the Ministry of Health signed a contract to purchase 10 million doses of Sputnik V.

With the new doses, Brazil expects to vaccinate 50 million Brazilians by April. However, unlike the Oxford-AstraZeneca-Fiocruz and CoronaVac–Butantan vaccines, the immunizer has not yet been approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).

Until Saturday, over 277,216 people have died of COVID-19 in Brazil. It is the second-highest number worldwide, behind the United States and ahead of Mexico.