Pfizer-BioNTech ink vaccine deal with Brazil manufacturer

Covid-19 vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech have joined forces with Brazilian pharmaceutical company Eurofarma to distribute doses in Latin America, the companies announced Thursday.

Production will start next year and at full capacity will produce 100 million finished doses, the statement said.

"Everyone -- regardless of financial condition, race, religion or geography -- deserves access to lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines," Pfizer chief Albert Bourla said in the statement. 

"Our new collaboration with Eurofarma expands our global supply chain network to another region -- helping us continue to provide fair and equitable access to our Covid-19 vaccine."

Brazil is a global pandemic hotspot, hitting a new daily record of more than 1,300 deaths on Monday with a total death toll of nearly 575,000 -- second only to the United States. 

As the fast-spreading Delta variant presents new challenges, protests have erupted in the country over the government's handling of the crisis and slow vaccine rollout. Eurofarma will receive drug products and finish the vaccine doses for distribution.