Brazil's Sao Paulo-based Butantan Institute, a state-run medical research facility, began to manufacture ButanVac, the first Brazilian vaccine against the novel coronavirus, on Wednesday, state governor Joao Doria announced.

China's ambassador to Brazil, Yang Wanming, said China is the main supplier of vaccines and vaccine raw materials to Brazil, accounting for 95 percent of imports and enough to cover 60 percent of priority groups in the South American nation's emergency phase.