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(Adds details of vaccine delivery, pending deals)
By Lisandra Paraguassu
BRASILIA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's Health Ministry
expects to have at least 150 million doses of vaccines against
COVID-19 available in the first half of 2021, with a third or
more coming from a Chinese company despite the president's early
skepticism.
Arnaldo Medeiros, a health ministry official, also told a
congressional hearing on Tuesday that an initial deal to acquire
46 million doses of vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech
could soon be expanded to 100 million doses.
The Sao Paulo state government's Butantan Institute is
expected on Wednesday to present data from its late-stage trial
of the Sinovac vaccine, called CoronaVac, which has already
begun rolling off its fill-and-finish production line.
President Jair Bolsonaro had snubbed that vaccine, citing
doubts about its "origin" and trading barbs with Sao Paulo
Governor Joao Doria, a political rival. But the Health Ministry
has been eager to secure supplies of it as the global rush for
vaccines heats up.
The federal government's Fiocruz biomedical center is also
expected to begin fill-and-finish of the AstraZeneca
vaccine in coming months, delivering the first shots on Feb. 8.
The ministry expects 104 million doses by June, officials said.
Separately, the ministry is in talks with Pfizer Inc
to receive 8 million doses of the vaccine it developed with
Germany's BioNTech SE in the first half of 2021.
No COVID-19 vaccine has been approved yet for use in Brazil.
The Pfizer/BioNTech shot has been authorized in several
countries, including the United States, the UK and Canada.
Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly played down the severity of
the pandemic, has said he will not take any vaccine, stoking
broader skepticism toward the shots among Brazilians. Brazil's
public health authorities, however, have said they will use any
vaccine approved by regulators.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu
Writing by Sabrina Valle and Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Brad
Haynes and Bill Berkrot)
