SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil recorded 1,803 new COVID-19 deaths on Sunday as a large study found that a Chinese vaccine that has become the pivot of the country’s vaccination campaign is 50.7% effective against the infectious new strain of homegrown known as P1.
Brazil, which has become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks, saw more than 37,000 new cases, the health ministry said on Sunday. With more than 353,000 deaths, Latin America’s largest country has the second highest coronavirus death toll in the world, after the United States.
The outbreak has recently reached its most severe stage due to a lack of federal restrictions, patchy roll-out of vaccines and the P1 variant.
The Butantan biomedical institute in Sao Paulo, which has tested and now produces the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd in China, said on Sunday that a study conducted found the shot had an efficacy of 50.7% against the P1 variant, and a less widespread strain known. as P2.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a Chinese hawk and vaccine skeptic who has come under fire for his handling of the outbreak, initially said his government would not buy the Sinovac shot, but later turned around as his government struggled to get supplies. Since then, the Chinese shot has become the most widely used shot in the country.
Butantan said if the second dose is delayed by more than two weeks, the efficacy increases to 62.3%. The vaccine has an efficacy of between 83.7% and 100% in preventing those infected from needing medical attention, it said.
The study, reportedly sent to the medical journal The Lancet for publication, tested 12,400 volunteers across Brazil.
Reporting by Alexandre Caverni; Editing by Peter Cooney