Last Friday (August 20), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) reached the milestone of 88.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine (recombinant) made available to the National Immunization Program (PNI). Of these, 84.4 million had their final processing at the Immunobiological Technology Institute (Bio-Manguinhos), as the result of a process of absorption of technology signed with AstraZeneca; the process is part of a project managed by Fiotec. The project also includes transference of technology so that Bio-Manguinhos can produce the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) in Brazil, making the production of the vaccine 100% national. In late July, the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines with Brazilian API began to be produced.
Fiotec’s actuation in projects that make it possible to manufacture the vaccine is joined by other fields in which the institution actively supports the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The main front is the responsibility of managing finances and providing accountability for the United against Covid-19 program, a Fiocruz initiative that brings together the public and private spheres to fight the disease. Until the end of the second trimester of 2021, more than 474 million reais were received in donations by 807 people and 119 organizations from all over the world. Government and private companies participating in the program financed projects in 52 different work plans, divided into the areas of production of diagnostic kits; assistance to patients; medication production; staff training; community mobilization and support; reliable communication; research applied on solutions for understanding Covid-19.
The program focuses its actions on populations in situations of vulnerability, made even worse by the pandemic. Almost 3 million reais were destined to buy food and personal hygiene products for families of Manguinhos and Maré, in Rio de Janeiro. More than 73 thousand basic staples baskets were distributed; the goal is to give away 100,000. In parallel with United against Covid-19, Fiotec supports social projects and families living in the communities that surround its plant, giving away food as well. The first 700 basic staples baskets were given away in May, to Projeto Marias, in Manguinhos, and also given to the Fiocruz Social Cooperation Coordination, a partner in the goal of making sure help gets to those who need it the most. Donations will continue to be given away at least until May 2022.
Also within the scope of United against Covid-19, Fiotec has contributed to expand healthcare offered to indigenous populations in the Amazon region. Program funds allowed for a laboratory boat to be prepared, with a capacity of up to 30 people, and to build lodgings and to provide medical services to the population. All these actions have made it possible to provide healthcare to the population and to amplify testing capacity in the region.
Testing and assistance capacity
In the beginning of the pandemic in Brazil, Fiotec joined forces with Fiocruz to install two testing stations, one in Manguinhos, in Rio de Janeiro, and the other at the Eusébio Industrial Center for Health, in the state of Ceará. The Rio de Janeiro unit was initially capable of processing 15 thousand tests per day, while the one in Ceará could process 10 thousand.
In 2020, the institution also worked to build the Hospital Center for the Covid-19 Pandemic of the Evandro Chagas National Infectiology Institute (INI/Fiocruz), which has become one of the reference institutions in healthcare for Covid-19 patients in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Fiotec was responsible for the acquisition of equipment and consumables used daily at the unit and for organizing the recruitment process to hire the new professionals who currently work at the hospital. There were more than 120,000 candidates. The hospital center will remain active once the pandemic is over, a legacy for the population of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
