covid-19 vaccination in brazil covid-19 vaccination in brazil the covid-19 vaccination campaign in brazil is an ongoing mass immunization campaign for the covid-19 pandemic in brazil. it started on january 17, 2021, when the country had 210 thousand deaths. covid-19 vaccination in brazilvaccination in july 13, 2022 datejanuary 17, 2021 (2021-01-17) – presentduration2 years, 3 months and 26 dayslocationbrazilcausecovid-19 pandemic in braziltargetpopulation aged 6 months or olderbudgetr$27.5 billionorganised byministry of health of brazilfederative units and municipalities of brazilparticipants189.05 million (dose 1 of 2)175.51 million (all doses)124.78 million (booster doses)outcome87.80% partially vaccinated (1 of 2 doses)81.50% fully vaccinated58.00% fully vaccinated with a booster dosewebsitegoverno federalupdated in february 3, 2023 the instituto butantan imported the first 6 million doses of coronavac in a collaboration with the chinese company sinovac biotech. there is no deadline forecast for immunizing the country's entire population due to the lack of supplies for vaccine production and also due to political disputes between the são paulo state government and the jair bolsonaro government. according to a june 2022 study published in the lancet, covid-19 vaccination in brazil prevented an additional 1 million deaths from december 8, 2020, to december 8, 2021. background before the butantan vaccine, fiocruz sought permission from the brazilian health regulatory agency (anvisa) to import the vaccine. it would be more than two million doses of the vaccines developed by oxford university and the pharmaceutical company astrazeneca. anvisa approved, on january 17, 2021, the emergency use of the vaccine in brazil. on january 22, 2021, after an obstacle between the indian and brazilian governments, brazil received another two million doses of the astrazeneca vaccine. on the same day, anvisa approved another 4.8 million doses of the coronavac vaccine for emergency use. initial deployment nurse mônica calazans receiving the first dose of the coronavac vaccine, minutes after its approval by anvisa. to the left, the governor of são paulo, joão doria. soon after the vaccines were approved for emergency use, the government of são paulo held a press conference to perform the first application. nurse mônica calazans was the first person outside the clinical trials to be vaccinated against covid in the country. elderly man receiving the second dose of coronavac vaccine in canoas, rio grande do sul. the vaccination campaign throughout the country would have started on january 18, 2021, at 5 pm (utc-3), however, due to logistical problems, part of the states postponed it to the 19th, since the vaccines would only arrive at night. the states that started vaccination on the 18th were são paulo, rio de janeiro, rio grande do sul, amazonas, mato grosso, paraná, pernambuco, minas gerais, espírito santo, maranhão, tocantins, mato grosso do sul, ceará, goiás, piauí, and santa catarina. mostly nursing technicians, nurses, blacks, and women were responsible for opening the vaccination campaign in the states. in the artistic world, the actresses zezé motta and solange couto became the first personalities to be vaccinated. the social worker and nursing technician, vanuzia costa, from the multiethnic village sons of this earth, was the first one vaccinated among the indigenous people. on january 23, 2021, in a symbolic act, vaccination was started in brazil with the oxford immunizer. the first person to receive the vaccine was the infectologist estevão portela. at the same occasion the pneumologist margareth dalcolmo was also vaccinated. doctor sarah ananda gomes was the third to be vaccinated. soon after, seven more health professionals were immunized. timeline and goals logo from the vaccination campaign.vaccinationimmunized brazilwe are just one nation on february 17, 2021, the then minister of health, eduardo pazuello, in a meeting with governors, presented a schedule about vaccination in brazil. he stated that between february and july 2021, an additional 230.7 million doses of vaccines against covid-19 will be distributed. on march 3, 2021, the ministry of health published in the official gazette a decree that mentioned the exemption of bidding in the acquisition of 38 million vaccines from janssen (pharmaceutical branch of johnson & johnson group) and 100 million doses of the pfizer vaccine. so far, the vaccines approved for definitive use in the country are the pfizer/biontech and oxford/astrazeneca vaccines. the butantan/sinovac and janssen vaccines, on the other hand, are only authorized for emergency use and are intended for priority groups. negotiations between brazil and pfizer/biontech began in the second half of 2020, but did not move forward due to the brazilian government's refusal to accept a contractual clause exempting the pharmaceutical company from bearing the costs of possible side effects of the vaccine. on march 4, 2021, in a final meeting for contractual arrangements with pfizer, the ministry of health ended up giving in and accepted the clauses imposed by the pharmaceutical company and that blocked the negotiations for brazil to acquire pfizer's vaccines. among the clauses is that pfizer will not be held responsible for the costs of eventual side effects of its immunizer. in other words: "that a term of responsibility for eventual side effects of the vaccine be signed". the ministry of health said that this signing was possible thanks to bill 534 of 2021 that mentions that "the union, the states, the federal district and the municipalities are authorized to purchase vaccines and to assume the risks related to civil liability, under the terms of the instrument of purchase or supply of vaccines entered into, in relation to post-vaccination adverse events". the contract has already been signed and analyzed by the ministry of health's legal department. in a schedule released on march 5, 2021, by the ministry of health, the coronavac vaccines from the butantan institute will be delivered weekly throughout march to the states and the federal district. in all, 22.7 million doses of coronavac are expected to be distributed. according to the ministry of health they will also be delivered: 3.7 million doses of the astrazeneca/oxford immunizer in the second half of march; 2.9 million doses by the world health organization (who) covax facility alliance; 8 million of covaxin - indian vaccine not yet approved by anvisa. with this, there will be a total distribution to the states and to the federal district of 38 million doses in march, a number below the one estimated by the ministry of health in february for the following month: 46 million doses. that is a reduction of 7.8 million doses of vaccine for the month of march. on april 16, 2021, minister marcelo queiroga announced the anticipation of the delivery of 1 million ready doses of the pfizer vaccine. what was supposed to be in june, will now be on april 29. the cargo of vaccines arrived at viracopos airport, campinas, são paulo from belgium. on may 11, 2021, the ministry of health announced the purchase of an additional 100 million doses of the tozinameran vaccine from pfizer/biontech. with this, the company must deliver throughout 2021, an additional 199 million doses. two weeks ago, 1 million were already delivered. also on may 11, the ministry vetoed the use of the oxford/astrazeneca vaccine in pregnant women because of cases of thrombosis reported in other countries. pregnant women who have already been vaccinated with vaccines from this laboratory must be followed up. on april 22, 2022, the ministry of health declared the end of the national public health emergency, effective 22 may. this allowed private vaccination clinics to offer covid-19 vaccines to the private market. the first vaccine available in the brazilian private market is fiocruz's oxford–astrazeneca vaccine for about r$325 (us$60). mass vaccination studies