BRASILIA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) unanimously approved on Sunday the emergency use of the CoronaVac vaccine, from the Chinese biotech firm Sinovac, as well as the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine.
The decision will allow the Brazilian government to start its vaccination plan against COVID-19 with 6 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by Sinovac in conjunction with the Butantan Institute of Sao Paulo.
The director-president of Anvisa, Antonio Barra Torres said, "The moment is for awareness, unity, and work. There is only one enemy. Our chance, our best chance in this war is, necessarily, for a change in social behavior, without which, even with vaccines, victory will not be achieved."
Monica Calazans, a 54-year old nurse, became the first Brazilian to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus on Sunday, after Brazilian health authorities approved the emergency use of the vaccines. She received a dose of the CoronaVac vaccine in a ceremony chaired by Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria.
Brazil currently has the second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world, with nearly 210,000 reported as of Saturday, and the third-highest number of cases, at 8.4 million.
