Coronavirus

Veterinary facilities to produce Covid-19 vaccines in Brazil

Veterinary facilities to produce Covid-19 vaccines in Brazil
Photo: Mike Mareen/Shutterstock

President Jair Bolsonaro approved a law greenlighting the manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines by veterinary facilities, as well as the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients. 

The decision requires facilities to comply with all health and biosafety requirements established for human-developed vaccines, and coronavirus immunizers will not be bottled, labeled, packaged, or stored alongside veterinary medicines. 

During a peak of Covid-19 cases and medicine shortage, hospitals in Rio de Janeiro were forced to use sedatives, anesthetics, and painkillers provided by a zoonosis control center.

The newly-approved decision seeks to improve the vaccination program in Brazil, which as of today has immunized over 15 percent of the population.