(Adds Pfizer)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Pfizer is
encountering difficulty in registering its COVID-19 vaccine for
emergency use in Brazil due to the level of detail required by
the regulator, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said on
Thursday.
Pazuello said Pfizer had presented a variety of demands in
order to close the deal to supply the vaccine to Brazil,
including a waiver of liability in Brazil.
"We are thinking of accepting," Pazuello told senators at an
audience to discuss vaccines.
Pfizer said it was in talks with the Health Ministry but did
not comment on the process with the health regulator Anvisa.
Anvisa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brazil expects to receive some 24 million COVID-19 vaccines
by January, Pazuello said.
He said Brazil expected Pfizer to provide 500,000 of those
doses next month, China's Sinovac to provide 9 million
doses and AstraZeneca to provide 15 million doses.
Brazil expects to reach 37.7 million vaccine doses by
February, with another 31 million doses arriving in March, the
minister added.
(Reporting by Pedro Fonseca
Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer
Editing by Brad Haynes and Howard Goller)