Brazil Govt adheres to Global Vaccine Access instrument

President signs measure that frees around R $ 2.5 billion to make initiative feasible

Representative Image of Vaccines

Sep 28, The Brazilian Government adhered to the Covid-19 Global Access Instrument for Vaccines - Covax Facility and released approximately R $ 2.5 billion to make the initiative feasible. The provisional measures were signed by the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro.

The Provisional Measure 1003 authorizes the federal executive to join the Vaccine Global Access Instrument, known as Covax Facility. The program is an international alliance of the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to accelerate the development and manufacture of vaccines against Covid-19, in addition to ensuring fair and equitable access to all countries in the world. Already the Provisional Measure 1004, deals with the release of R $ 2.513 billion to facilitate the entry into the program.

The alliance has nine candidate vaccines under development and others are under analysis. According to the World Health Organization, Covax's goal is, by the end of 2021, to distribute two billion doses of safe and effective vaccines that have obtained regulatory clearance or prequalification by WHO.

According to the measure signed by the President, adherence does not imply the mandatory purchase of vaccines, which will depend on technical and financial analysis for each case. “The objective of adhering to the Covax Facility Instrument is to provide, at the international level, the country's access to safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19, without prejudice to eventual future adherence to other mechanisms or the acquisition of vaccines by other modalities”, says the measure.

According to the determination, the resources allocated to the Covax Facility Instrument may include the cost of purchasing vaccines, any associated taxes, the access premium, risk mitigation and the operational costs of the referred Instrument, including through an administration fee.

Countries are not required to join the program. According to the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, nations are only invited to participate. Membership allows access to the portfolio of safe and effective vaccines against the disease that is in development worldwide.

“This is yet another commitment by the Brazilian government to save lives. We are working on several fronts to achieve, with agility and security, an effective cure for Covid-19 ”, highlighted the Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello.

Vaccines under test in Brazil

The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has already approved tests for four vaccines against Covid-19 in Brazil: that of Oxford, in the United Kingdom; from China; the United States in partnership with Europe; and another from Europe.

All of these tests are conditioned to four main aspects: safety data; design of the proposed study; production and quality control data; and good clinical practice. 

Oxford Vaccine

UK vaccine tests are being coordinated by the Astrazeneca laboratory in partnership with the University of Oxford. This vaccine is made from a weakened version of the adenovirus, which causes colds in chimpanzees. It is genetically altered to carry traces of the Coronavirus S protein, responsible for coupling the invader to human cells. 

The vaccine is being tested on 10,000 volunteers over the age of 18 in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul and Rio Grande do Norte. The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation ( Fiocruz ) has resources to receive, process, distribute and start manufacturing the vaccine, if its effectiveness is proven.

China vaccine

The vaccine from China is being produced by the Sinovac laboratory, together with the Butantã Institute, in São Paulo. The technology used is virus inactivated. Clinical studies are being carried out on 13,060 volunteers over 18 years of age. In Brazil, the states of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro and the Federal District participate.  

US-Europe vaccine

This vaccine is developed by the Pfizer-Wyeth laboratory. The technology is based on ribonucleic acid (RNA), which encodes a specific antigen of the Sars-CoV-2 virus. RNA is translated by the human body into proteins that will induce an immune response. It is being tested on two thousand people over the age of 16. In Brazil, the states of São Paulo and Bahia participate in clinical studies.

Vaccine Europe

The other vaccine tested in Brazil is developed by the Janssen-Cilag laboratory, of the Johnson and Johnson group. Clinical studies are being carried out on 9,800 volunteers aged over 18 years. The technology employed is also an Adenovirus Vector. In Brazil, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Rio Grande do Norte, Federal District, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Santa Catarina participate in the tests.