Oxford vaccine tests against covid-19 begin in São Paulo

The tests on Brazilian volunteers of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford in England against covid-19, respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, began last weekend at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), the Lemann Foundation, which funds the project, said in a statement on Monday night. The tests of the Vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in Brazil were announced at the beginning of the month and should count, according to Unifesp, with 2,000 volunteers in São Paulo and another thousand in Rio de Janeiro, where the tests will be carried out by rede D'Or. "Last weekend (June 20 and 21), the Lemann Foundation had the opportunity to celebrate with the partners involved and responsible experts the start of testing in São Paulo for the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, led globally by the University of Oxford," the Lemann Foundation, of billionaire entrepreneur Jorge Paulo Lemann, said. According to Unifesp, volunteers in São Paulo will be health professionals between 18 and 55 years old and other employees working at Hospital São Paulo, linked to the Paulista Medicina School of Unifesp. Earlier this month, Unifesp reported that tests with Brazilian volunteers will contribute to the registration of the vaccine in the United Kingdom, scheduled for the end of this year. Formal registration, however, will only take place after the end of studies in all participating countries, the university said. The vaccine, whose request for testing in Brazil was made to the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, is currently in Phase 3 testing, "which means that the vaccine is among the most advanced stages of development," unifesp said. Brazil is the first country outside the United Kingdom to start testing the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and one of the reasons that led to the choice was the fact that the pandemic is on the rise in the country. Another vaccine against Covid-19, developed by the Chinese company Sinovac, is expected to begin testing in Brazil next month in partnership with the Butantan Institute, linked to the government of the State of São Paulo. This test, according to the institute, will be funded by the São Paulo government and should have 9,000 volunteers. If the vaccine is successful, the agreement provides for the possibility of being produced locally by Butantan.