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Brazil looks to new Pfizer contract to speed up vaccinations

04 May 2021 01:31 (UTC +04:00)

Brazil is close to signing a second contract with Pfizer Inc for another 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, of which 35 million shots are due to be delivered in October, Brazil's Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said on Monday, APA reports quoting Reuters.

That raises to 200 million doses of the Pfizer shot for Brazil this year, he said, aimed at relieving the shortage of vaccines contributing to the world's second-deadliest outbreak outside the United States.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second-largest city, announced over the weekend that it was delaying second doses of CoronaVac, the vaccine made by China's Sinovac Biotech, because it was running out of shots. The second dose will only be applied every other day until more supplies arrive from the finishing facility at the Butantan biomedical center in Sao Paulo.

Most COVID-19 shots administered so far in Brazil have been CoronaVac, but the Butantan finishing line halted two weeks ago due to delayed shipments of active ingredients from China.