Coronavirus

Regulators approve domestic production of AstraZeneca vaccine

Regulators approve domestic production of AstraZeneca vaccine
Photo: Juan Roballo/Shutterstock

Brazil’s federal health regulator Anvisa has permitted the federally-run Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) to manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredient for the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Brazil, paving the way for the country to produce the immunizer domestically.

Brazil has been using the AstraZeneca vaccine since the beginning of the Covid vaccine rollout in January 2021, but delays in input shipments from India and China caused severe distribution hiccups. For 2022, the Jair Bolsonaro administration acquired 120 million doses of the vaccine, with the possibility of buying another 50 million. 

According to Anvisa, every vaccine delivered by Fiocruz will now be fully produced in Brazil, and the foundation holds the proper best practices certification.