Brazil extends emergency use of CoronaVac vaccine for one year

The main objective of the measure is not to impact the supply of vaccines and medicines against COVID-19.

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Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa, regulatory body) approved an extension for one more year of the emergency use of the CoronaVac vaccine against the new coronavirus, from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, the first to be authorized in the South American country in the immunization plan against COVID-19 since January 2021.

“Current authorizations will remain valid for one more year. Within this period, companies with vaccines with emergency authorization must request definitive registration,” Anvisa said in a statement.

CoronaVac, which is developed locally by the public laboratory Instituto Butantan in the state of Sao Paulo (southeast), was the first vaccine to be administered in Brazil in January 2021 and is authorized for pediatric use starting at 5 years of age.

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The regulatory body also approved new rules to expedite the emergency use authorization for vaccines indicated by the Ministry of Health as necessary for immunization programs.

“The main objective of the measure is not to impact the supply of vaccines and medicines against COVID-19,” says the statement on the measure, taken after the Ministry of Health eliminated the state of health emergency in April.

The Ministry of Health lifted the state of emergency following improvements in COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death rates, making Brazil the second country in deaths after the United States and the third in cases.