Brazil drops plan to buy Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine

Brazil’s northeastern states suspended plans to import Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine due to the conditions set by the country’s health regulator Anvisa, Piauí state’s governor, Wellington Dias, said on Thursday.

Dias met with representatives of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) that is marketing the vaccine developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, who said the 37 million doses that were to be sold to Brazil would be supplied to Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia.

Anvisa denied Sputnik emergency use authorization in Brazil, but allowed northeastern states to import 2 million doses under strict conditions that included testing the vaccine to detect adenovirus replication before using it, as well as testing and monitoring people receiving the shots.

RDIF said the northeastern states consortium was still committed to buying the Russian vaccine. They hope the new additional technical requirements from Anvisa are addressed shortly so that Brazilian people can receive one of the safest and most efficient vaccines in the world, the fund said in a statement.

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