The first person in Brazil to be given a vaccine against Covid-19 was a 54-year-old nurse in the city of São Paulo, Mônica Calazans, who was injected with CoronaVac, which was developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd of China, Reuters reports.

The news agency says Ms Calazans was injected with the first of the two doses of CoronaVac required for inoculation on Sunday, just minutes after the Brazilian health industry regulator, Anvisa, gave Instituto Butantan, a biomedical research centre in São Paulo, permission for emergency use of the vaccine.

The report quotes Governor João Doria of the state of São Paulo as describing permission for emergency use of the vaccine as a triumph for science.

Instituto Butantan issued a written statement saying some 6 million doses of CoronaVac are ready for use, and that it will prepare 46 million more by April, Reuters says.