The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) will sign an agreement with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for the acquisition of batches and transference of technology regarding the Covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford. The agreement will be the result of the cooperation between the Brazilian government and the pharmaceutic company, announced on June 27 by the Ministry of Health.
Led by American economist Jeffrey Sachs, the commission is an interdisciplinary initiative that includes leaders in health sciences, business, finances, and public policies, to formulate recommendations to overcome the challenges brought by the pandemic. The first meeting took place on June 23 and the first suggestions by the commission should be presented in September, during the United Nations General Assembly.
With the goal of better understanding the beginning of the novel coronavirus pandemic in Brazil, researchers of Fiocruz have carried out a wide genetic study involving almost a hundred samples from patients from all Brazilian regions, infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the early moments of the pandemic. In June, researchers have also developed a protocol to sequence the new coronavirus, in a partnership with the University College London.
