Brazilian nurse Monica Calazans receives the vaccine against COVID-19 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Jan. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)
Brazilian nurse Monica Calazans, 54, became the first Brazilian to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus on Sunday after Brazilian health authorities approved the emergency use of the vaccines.
Brazil's Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) unanimously approved on Sunday the emergency use of the CoronaVac vaccine, from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, as well as the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine against COVID-19.
Calazans received a dose of the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac in a ceremony chaired by Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria.
"Thank you very much. I am excited," Calazans told reporters with tears in her eyes after receiving the vaccine.
The Brazilian nurse works at the Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectious Diseases in Sao Paulo.
Brazil is second in the world in the number of deaths from COVID-19, with 209,296 deaths as of Saturday, and third in the world in the number of cases, with more than 8.4 million infections reported.
