Bolsonaro asks Modi to expedite COVID-19 vaccine shipment

The office of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday released a letter from him to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking to expedite shipment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines being made in India.

"“To enable the immediate implementation of our National Immunization Program, I would appreciate... the supply to Brazil, with the possible urgency and without jeopardising the Indian vaccination program, of 2 million doses,” Reuters quoted Bolsonaro as writing to Modi.

Reuters attributed the urgency from Bolsonaro to a setback in Brazil's attempts to produce the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine domestically. Reuters reported, "federally funded Fiocruz biomedical center said on Friday that the active ingredients needed to fill and finish millions of doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in Brazil, previously slated to arrive in the country on Saturday, may not land until the end of the month".

The active ingredients sought by Fiocruz were stuck in China, where they are produced, due to a delay in export licences. Reuters said Fiocruz is in talks to import more finished doses of the vaccine, "likely from India on top of the 2 million it has already ordered".

On Thursday, the death toll due to COVID-19 in Brazil passed 200,000, the second highest number of fatalities after the US. Media reports attributed the spurt in COVID-19 cases due to large-scale New Year celebrations across the country that ignored guidelines.

"Brazil registered 1,524 additional deaths over the past 24 hours, according to health ministry data. Since the outbreak began, nearly 8 million people have been infected and 200,498 have died," Reuters reported on Friday.

Bolsonaro himself was blamed for going for a family vacation during the New Year period.