Dimas Covas, a health expert and director of the Butantan Institute, Brazil, was bestowed with the 2021 Chinese Government Friendship Award by the Chinese government, making him the first Brazilian expert in the health field to receive this honor.

　　The team led by Covas worked collectively with Sinovac Biotech to promote the technology transfer of China's COVID-19 inactivated vaccine to Brazil, which demonstrated China's idea on promoting the COVID-19 vaccine as global public goods.

　　Confidence in CoronaVac

　　As a leading expert in the field of biotechnology, Covas has full confidence in the inactivated vaccine developed by China. At the beginning of the clinical trials, the Brazilian public had low trust in Chinese vaccines, and some politicians even discredited it.

　　Covas argued strongly that the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine is what Brazil needed, refuting the doubts against its reliability and efficacy. He said, "We must know that the Apple phone we use is made in China, that countless other industrial products are made in China, and that many international pharmaceutical companies have large-scale laboratories in China. Today, China is a hub of highly advanced technologies, which can meet the needs of any country in the world. There is no reason to misjudge or ignore the vaccine simply because it was initially developed in China."

　　With the pandemic impacting the whole world, global research institutions are joining the fight against the virus. The Butantan Institute, a medical research institute with a history of over 120 years, is also at the forefront. Covas believed that cooperation between two parties would help with final success against COVID-19.

　　Since June 2020, the Butantan Institute and Sinovac conducted several clinical studies, the most significant one of which was the Phase III clinical trial of CoronaVac, which was developed in April 2020 and was an adaptation to a previous vaccine used against SARS. In order to confirm the security and efficacy of the vaccine, more than 10,000 volunteers were involved in the trial.

　　"What is important for vaccine performance during a pandemic is to precisely prevent deaths and severe illnesses, and reduce hospitalization rates. CoronaVac, developed in China, performed very well in Brazil because it significantly reduced hospitalizations, especially among the elderly and health professionals, which shows that it is an extremely good vaccine," said Covas.

　　The power of international cooperation

　　Covas noted that the development of modern scientific and technological innovations cannot be achieved without the exchange and cooperation of different countries. "I have more than 30 years of experience in the research community. During that time, one of the hallmarks of my work was collaboration. We often need to work in teams and collaborate internationally. That is, in part, my responsibility as director of the Butantan Institute. And the reason I am where I am now is the result of the scientific and technical community seeking to collaborate, rather than compete. I think we should all learn from this unprecedented pandemic and become more acutely aware of the importance of collaboration," he said.

　　The first shipment of ready vaccines from China arrived in Brazil back in November 2020. More importantly, 600 liters of raw materials arrived in the same batch. To date, the Butantan Institute and Sinovac have provided more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Brazil, ensuring that half of the Brazilian population is vaccinated.

　　The cooperation between China and Brazil in terms of equitable distribution of vaccines serves as a model for the international community in the ongoing battle against the global pandemic.

　　This story is in cooperation with the International Talent Magazine published by Foreign Talent Research Center of MOST.