The governor of Sao Paulo assured Wednesday that clinical trials in Brazil of a vaccine against the coronavirus developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac had proved "
extremely positive
" and that a large-scale immunization campaign could begin as early as December .
The vaccine called CoronaVac is currently in phase III, the last of clinical trials before approval.
It has been tested on thousands of volunteers in six states of the country, including that of Sao Paulo, the most affected, with more than 850,000 cases and 31,430 deaths.
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According to Governor Joao Doria, this vaccine elicited an immune response in 98% of patients over the age of 60, without side effects.
"
The results are extremely positive,
" he assured at a press conference.
“
We will be able to immunize Brazilians in Sao Paulo and across the country.
The forecast is that it will be available from December,
”he added.
Testing in Brazil is being conducted by the Public Reference Institute Butantan, which could produce 120 million doses by early 2021 if the results are conclusive.
The issue of vaccines has taken on a political dimension in Brazil.
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Political opponent of Joao Doria, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly criticized the Chinese vaccine and the government has counted on the partnership between the University of Oxford and the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca, which also carries out tests in Brazil.
But clinical trials for this vaccine were halted on Tuesday due to a possible serious side effect in a participant.