Negative stance on the issue of providing vaccines
Anthony Pouch, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the United States, said the situation in Brazil is very serious and that the containment order should be seriously considered.
Pouch said in an interview with BBC Brazil on the 6th (local time) that the mutant virus originating in Brazil is spreading to neighboring countries in South America, and pointed out that it is necessary to comply with strict quarantine regulations and increase vaccination.
“There is no doubt that strict public health measures, including the containment order, are very successful in curbing the spread of Corona 19,” said Pouch.
However, Brazil’s health minister Marcelo Keiroga said on the 3rd that it was “normal to avoid the blockade,” saying that he was in fact opposed to the blockade.
This seems to reflect the position of President Zaire Bolsonaro against the blockade in order to maintain economic activity.
Regarding the issue of supporting the COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil, Pouch continued to react negatively, saying that the US government would not deliver the vaccine through bilateral negotiations.
This was interpreted as confirming the policy to provide vaccines to other countries only through the’COVAX facility’, an international project for joint vaccine purchase and distribution.
Brazil is expected to receive 42.5 million doses of vaccine from CoVax Facility this year, but only 102,400 doses of Korean AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine have been delivered so far.
The Brazilian government has been discussing the issue of vaccine provision with the US government since the middle of last month, but there has been little achievement.
Brazilian Senate Hodrigo Pachecu recently sent a letter to US Vice President Camela Harris, asking Brazil to provide some of the vaccines held by the US government.
Until this day, the number of vaccinations in Brazil was 28,38398, or 9.84% of the total population, of which 58,81,392 had completed the second vaccination.
/yunhap news
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