Brazil raised the commitment of local authorities to reserve stocks of vaccines for the second injection on Sunday, with the aim of speeding up vaccination and stopping the COVID-19 epidemic.
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Health Minister Eduardo Pazuelo confirmed that the direction of this shift is to ensure that at least one dose of the vaccine is injected as quickly as possible for the largest number of Brazilians.
Brazil, the second most affected country in the world with nearly 300,000 deaths, has so far used the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine and the Chinese Corona vaccine, both of which require two doses to be injected.
“By launching the entire stock of vaccines for immediate use, we will be able to double the number of doses given this week, and save more lives,” the minister said in a statement.
The ministry said it had received guarantees from the laboratories to supply sufficient doses to ensure the second injection on time.
The priority given to administering a first dose to the largest possible number of people has been the subject of debate around the world.
Countries like the UK have achieved promising results with this strategy.
Brazil has so far provided at least the first dose of the vaccine to 5.5% of its population, a result far from achieving the goal set by the Ministry of Health to vaccinate the entire population by the end of the year.
On Sunday, the country received its first shipment of vaccines obtained through the United Nations’ Covax program intended for less wealthy countries.
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