The Brazilian regulator, Anvisa, says it has given permission for clinical trials of CoronaVac, a vaccine against the Covid-19 virus developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd of China.

Anvisa issued a written statement saying a Brazilian biomedical research centre, the Butantan Institute, asked for permission to try out the vaccine.

The regulator says the vaccine will be tested on about 9,000 people in the states of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais and Paraná, and in and around Brasilia.

The swift granting of permission for the trials was the result of meetings of representatives of Anvisa, Sinovac and the Butantan Institute held in response to the urgent need to counter the Covid-19 pandemic, Anvisa says.