BusinessHealthIndiaNewsWorld

BRAZIL requests India for 2 million doses of Covishield

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro tests COVID-19 positive for third time -  The Statesman

Ahead of India launches a massive drive to vaccinate about 300 million healthcare people including medics and paramedics from January 16,  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has requested India for urgently shipping 2 million doses of Covishield vaccine. Brazil has the second-highest death toll after the US, as cases are mounting. Covishield is produced indigenously by the Serum Institute of India at  Pune. Covishield and Covaxin, also developed in India in collaboration with ICMR, have been okayed with riders by the country’s drug controller for emergency use. Bolsonaro has written Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite the shipment of the Covishield vaccine to Brazil without affecting India’s vaccination program. Bolsonaro’s letter comes amid growing pressure to speed up Brazil’s vaccine rollout and end the world’s second-deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Brazilian National Immunization Program has finalized the Covishield and Covaxin for emergency use in the country. Earlier, the federally funded Fiocruz biomedical center had requested an emergency use authorization for the Covishield vaccine coming from India. Out of eight million-plus people infected with the Covid-19 in the Latin American nation till Saturday last, 7.21 million have recovered. Bolsonaro, himself a Coronavirus survivor, has speeded up the ongoing drive to contain the dreaded infection amidst criticism by his political opponents for alleged mishandling the national crisis which has claimed 200,000 lives till Saturday, January 9. . Fiocruz, which was counting on the shipment on Saturday to supply the government with doses this month, said it was in talks to import more finished doses of the vaccine, likely from India on top of the 2 million it has already ordered. Incidentally, , Bolsonoro, who was an ardent coronavirus sceptic and had taken it lightly moving around without wearing was diagnosed with COVID-19 for the third time in July and self-quarantined in the presidential palace in Brasilia. Image courtesy: The Statesman

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.