Brazil

• Thursday, December 31st 2020 - 08:35 UTC

  Brazil dispute with Pfizer vaccine; pledges emergency use for AstraZeneca's shots probably by mid January

  

  Brazil will soon weigh emergency-use approval for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after Britain gave the green light on Wednesday, as Latin America's largest country rushes to catch up with immunization programs under way around the hard-hit region.

• Thursday, December 31st 2020 - 08:23 UTC

  Brazilian medical suppliers in conflict with government over syringe and needle prices

  

  Brazilian syringe and needle makers warned on Wednesday the country's coronavirus vaccination program was at risk after the government set auction prices too low and failed to draw bids for enough syringes to meet its requirements.

• Wednesday, December 30th 2020 - 08:50 UTC

  Brazil's industry confidence index in December reaches the highest level in ten years

  

  Brazil's industry confidence rose 1.8 points in December to 114.9 points, reaching the highest level in more than 10 years, an economic research center said on Monday.

• Wednesday, December 30th 2020 - 08:49 UTC

  Employment situation in Brazil improving: two million find jobs

  

  Brazil’s unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 14.3% in the three months through October, official figures showed on Tuesday, the first decline this year as the number of people with jobs rose by almost 2 million from the prior three months.

• Tuesday, December 29th 2020 - 09:35 UTC

  Oxford/Astra Zeneca will apply for full approval of its vaccine from Brazil's regulator on 15 January

  

  Brazil's Fiocruz biomedical institute will seek approval for the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 with federal health regulator Anvisa on Jan. 15, one of the center's senior officials said on Monday.

• Tuesday, December 29th 2020 - 09:30 UTC

  “Nobody pressures me for anything”, blasts Bolsonaro when asked about Covid-19 vaccines

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, one of the world's most prominent coronavirus skeptics, said over the weekend he was not worried about criticism over the speed of Brazil's vaccine rollout, saying he felt no pressure.

• Saturday, December 26th 2020 - 09:50 UTC

  Brazil pledges a target of 45% renewable energy by 2050

  

  Brazil has now moved past the 7 gigawatts (GW) mark of total installed renewables – and has set the ambition of 45% of its energy needs being generated in similar form by 2050.

• Saturday, December 26th 2020 - 08:55 UTC

  Indonesia asks Brazil for data on the Chinese vaccine

  

  With the slow development of its own phase three clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate, Indonesia said it has asked for data from Brazil, where a similar trial is progressing smoothly.

• Thursday, December 24th 2020 - 08:45 UTC

  Chinese vaccine 50% effective, reports Sao Paulo lab, but half of Brazilians reject inoculation

  

  Brazilian researchers said on Wednesday the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech is more than 50% effective based on trial data, but again withheld full results at the company's request, raising questions about transparency.

• Thursday, December 24th 2020 - 08:33 UTC

  Sao Paulo state doubles lockdown measures over Xmas and New Year

  

  Brazil's southeast state of Sao Paulo, the epicenter of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, said this week it will double down on lockdown measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus over the Christmas and New Year holidays.