Bolsonaro signs technology transfer agreement for AstraZeneca vaccine

On Tuesday, President Jair Bolsonaro signed a technology transfer agreement concerning the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Now, the federally-run Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) will have access to the vaccine’s active pharmaceutical ingredient production method, meaning the institution will be able to produce the immunizer from scratch.

The lack of inputs has been one of the biggest challenges for Brazil’s vaccination effort. The country relies on imports — mainly from China or India — in order to manufacture doses of the AstraZeneca and CoronaVac vaccines.

Mr. Bolsonaro told reporters that, with the agreement, Brazil could potentially start exporting the vaccine to neighboring countries and other developing nations.

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