Pfizer sells 54 ml of doses to Chile, Peru and Mexico...

The Ministry of Health has only “a few days” to decide whether to buy Covid vaccine from American Pfizer. The deadline is given by Pfizer, which reports 95% effectiveness of the product in tests. The government resists the price, the offer of few doses, and the need to store at 70ºC. Most experts say it could be the alternative, at least in big cities, with good refrigerators. After an agreement with the United States and the European Union, Pfizer has already negotiated 54.3 million doses with Peru, Mexico and Chile.

Pfizer, which works in partnership with the German company BioNTech, says that the term of the proposal to the government is protected by a confidentiality agreement. The newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo found that it is seven days and ends next week. Pfizer says, in a note, to await “official positioning of the ministry in response to the proposal” of the company, “which expires in a few days”. The company has already closed sales to more than 30 nations.

The Latin American countries with which Pfizer has already closed a deal plan to start vaccination this month or early 2021, subject to approval by local regulatory bodies. The UK vaccines from next week – each person must take two doses.

The number of doses available to Brazil is also under secrecy. The company says it would be “able to immunize millions of Brazilians in the first half of 2021. For this year, it will produce 50 million doses; in 2021, it will be 1.3 billion. Doses are reserved for “countries that closed early deals”

In Brazil, Pfizer started the registration process last week. Up to 60 days are foreseen for analysis, but the deadline may be shortened due to new rules by Anvisa, which accepts orders for emergency use.

The Jair Bolsonaro government is betting on the Oxford University vaccine. Fiocruz works to incorporate the technology and produce its own doses of this immunizer. But the researchers responsible for the Oxford study have already recognized errors in initial tests and the need to expand clinical trials to measure effectiveness, which should delay registration.

In addition, the portfolio expects to receive doses for 10% of the Brazilian population through the Covax Facility, an international consortium led by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The national secretary of Health Surveillance, Arnaldo Medeiros, said on Thursday that there is interest in buying different vaccines, but linked any acquisition to registration with Anvisa.

According to the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, the reticent stance worsened after Bolsonaro blocked the purchase of Coronavac, developed in partnership between São Paulo and the Chinese group Sinovac. Minister Eduardo Pazuello has already told auxiliaries that, in order to avoid a new “political fact”, he only returns to this after registration by Anvisa.

In addition, Pazuello has publicly stated that proposals from other vaccine manufacturers did not please. In Congress this week, he called the numbers of doses offered by some laboratories “meager”, without naming names. According to the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, he told auxiliaries, in an ironic tone, that some proposals would not serve to “vaccinate Brasília”, with 3 million inhabitants.

The ministry has also signaled that Pfizer and Moderna vaccine storage temperatures, -70 ° C and -20 ° C, respectively, are barriers. Medeiros said the ministry has invested to modernize the approximately 40,000 SUS vaccination posts.

Pfizer says it has a plan for transporting and storing doses to SUS – a package for 5,000 doses, with controlled temperature, that uses dry ice. The vaccine would last for 15 days.

Other countries

Even governments that had already closed deals with other pharmaceutical companies have tried to expand the immunization menu. An example is Mexico, the 2nd most populous country in Latin America, with 126 million inhabitants. The government purchased 34.4 million doses of Pfizer, still under review by the regulator. Despite logistical barriers, the country is talking about starting vaccination this year and having 17 million immunized by the 2nd quarter. The country also has an agreement with AstraZeneca.

Chile purchased 10 million doses from Pfizer, 14.4 million from AstraZeneca and another 60 million from Sinovac over three years. All are being tested in the Andean country.

Peru says it has 9.9 million doses of Pfizer and another 13.2 million via Covax. It still negotiates with several companies such as Moderna, Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. The idea is to start immunization before April.

Colombia plans to vaccinate more than 20% of the population in the first half of 2021, negotiates with Pfizer and has tried to strengthen its storage network. The information is from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.