(Adds concerns about delayed imports, Bolsonaro comments)
By Eduardo Simões
SAO PAULO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Brazil kicked off a nationwide
COVID-19 immunization program on Monday by distributing doses of
a vaccine from China's Sinovac Biotech following an
emergency use authorization, although the pace of vaccination
will depend on delayed imports.
After weeks of setbacks, many Brazilians cheered the first
wave of inoculations, from bustling clinics in Sao Paulo to a
spectacular shot planned at the foot of the Christ Redeemer
statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro.
The Health Ministry gave states the green light to start
immunizing at 5 p.m. (2000 GMT), although some officials lost no
time in starting the vaccinations.
Minutes after federal health agency Anvisa approved the
Sinovac vaccine on Sunday, Monica Calazans, a 54-year-old nurse
in Sao Paulo, became the first person to be inoculated in the
country, as Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria looked on.
President Jair Bolsonaro, a COVID-19 skeptic who has refused
to take a vaccine himself, had faced fierce criticism for the
lack of immunization in Brazil, which has lost more than 200,000
lives to COVID-19 – the pandemic's worst death toll outside the
United States.
On Sunday, Anvisa approved emergency use of the Sinovac
vaccine and one from AstraZeneca Plc, although a hurried
plan to get 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was
hamstrung by a lack of export approval from India.
That was one of several hurdles threatening to slow Brazil's
already lagging immunization efforts, as local manufacturing
partners for both vaccine makers wait on active ingredients from
abroad in order to fill and finish doses for distribution.
The Butantan Institute run by Sao Paulo state needs another
shipment of Sinovac's ingredients by the end of the month in
order to hit its target of 46 million doses by April, the head
of the institute told a news conference.
The federally-funded Fiocruz biomedical center in Rio de
Janeiro is still awaiting its first shipment of ingredients for
AstraZeneca's vaccine, pending Chinese export approval.
Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello scolded Doria on Sunday for
what he called an illegal "marketing ploy" for giving the green
light to begin vaccinations in Sao Paulo prior to the official
rollout.
Bolsonaro, who had taunted Doria over the disappointing 50%
efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine in Brazilian trials, added an
indirect criticism on Monday.
"So it's been approved for use in Brazil. It is Brazil's
vaccine. It doesn't belong to any governor," he told supporters
outside the presidential palace.
(Reporting by Eduardo Simoes
Additional reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu and Sabrina Valle
Editing by Brad Haynes and Bill Berkrot)
Astrazeneca (AZN)