Arrival in Brazil of the first shipment of vaccine doses within the scope of the COVAX Facility initiative - Joint press release by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Health

On Sunday, March 22, Brazil received the first shipment of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, produced by South Korean laboratory SK Bioscience and purchased within the COVAX Facility initiative. The arrival of 1,022,400 doses was scheduled for 6 p.m. (local time) at Guarulhos airport, São Paulo. By the end of March, the same manufacturer will deliver further 1.9 million doses.

This shipment is the first COVAX Facility allocation to Brazil, which will total 9.1 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to be delivered by May 2021. According to Brazil’s contract with the initiative, signed on September 25, 2020, the country will have access to 42.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

As stipulated by the COVAX Facility initiative, the Revolving Fund of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is in charge of the delivery. For 35 years, the Fund has helped the countries of the Americas to promote access to vaccines and related supplies.

The allocation of vaccines will follow the National Plan for Operationalization of Vaccination against COVID-19, founded upon the history of success of the National Immunization Program under Brazil’s Unified Health System (known locally as SUS).

The arrival of the doses is the result of an unprecedented international effort, in which Brazil has actively participated, with the aim of facilitating access to vaccines against COVID-19.