Instituto Butantan, a state-owned biomedical research institute in the southern Brazilian state of São Paulo, has opened a facility that will begin next year making CoronaVac, a vaccine against COVID-19 devised by Sinovac Biotech Ltd of China, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency quotes Instituto Butantan President Dimas Covas as saying Sinovac began transferring its vaccine technology last year, and that it will inspect the facility next month.

The facility can make 100 million doses of vaccine a year, including doses of vaccine against rabies, Zika and hepatitis A, the report says.

It quotes São Paulo Governor João Doria as dubbing the facility “a factory of life”, and calling its opening last Friday “a victory for São Paulo and Brazil”.

Over 112 million doses of CoronaVac have been administered in Brazil, Xinhua quotes Mr Doria as saying.