The Brazilian government said on Tuesday (5) that there is no official ban from the government of India for the export of vaccines against Covid-19 and that the purchase, by Fiocruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz), of 2 million ready doses of the immunizer is at an advanced stage. This first batch is expected to be delivered in mid-January.
On Sunday (3), a senior official at the Serum Institute, the Indian manufacturer of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with AstraZeneca, had previously said that the exporting of the immunizers was banned, for the time being, in order to prioritize the domestic market.
This Tuesday, however, the institution changed its position and said that sales to foreign markets have been authorized, but the initial information generated uncertainty in the Brazilian government, who contacted Itamaraty and established communication with Indian authorities to understand if the decision affected the purchase already negotiated by Fiocruz.
Translated by Cassy Dias