Photo: Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine. By: Governo do Estado de São Paulo. Source: Flickr – CC Licensing.
The Chinese company Sinovac Biotech has developed more than 2.8 billion vaccines against Covid-19. The vaccine has been distributed in more than 60 countries around the world, including Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Uruguay. Currently, Sinovac’s involvement in the region goes beyond the distribution of the vaccine, in that, at the end of last year, Sinovac Biotech announced plans to build a vaccine production plant in Chile. The reason for this is Chile’s positive reception of the product, which, according to CGTN’s chronicle ‘Chinese Technology in Latin America’, is based on the approval of Chile’s health specialists, who maintain that the technology used for the vaccine is safe and has few side effects.
The plant, which is expected to be ready by 2023, involves an investment of USD $100 million and will have an area of 22,000 square meters. Its production capacity will be 50 million doses of vaccines per year. This is a great opportunity for Chile as it will be able to establish itself as a focus of vaccine production and distribution in the region. It is a milestone for the South American country, and, according to Flavio Salazar, Chile’s Minister of Science, it contributes to the fight against the existing inequality in vaccine manufacturing resulting from the global centralization of such processes.
Top headline:
Radio Cooperativa (Chile): Tecnología china en América Latina: La cooperación con Chile en el desarrollo de vacunas para crear una barrera inmunolóigica.
Find out more:
Americas Society – Council of the Americas: Cronología: Rastreando el camino hacia la vacunación en América Latina.
Revista Forbes: Sinovac aterriza en Latinoamérica con su primera plata de vacunas en Chile.