Prognosis

Brazil’s Fiocruz Says Vaccine May Be Delayed by Supply Shortage

  • To meet original goals, supplies need to arrive within days
  • Vaccine’s active pharmaceutical ingredient is stuck in China
A healthcare worker administers doses of the Sinovac Biotech Ltd. coronavirus vaccine at the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. Photographer: Andre Coelho/Bloomberg
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Brazil’s Fiocruz, which partnered with AstraZeneca/Oxford to produce coronavirus vaccines locally, said it may fail to deliver the shots on schedule next month because of difficulty getting a key ingredient from China.

The Rio de Janeiro-based research institute had planned to have the first million doses of the shots ready the week of Feb. 8. But the vaccine’s active pharmaceutical ingredient -- known locally as IFA -- is stuck in China awaiting approval to ship.