Brazil Approves Local Production of Butantan Chikungunya Vaccine as São Paulo Expands Dengue Shots to 59-Year-Olds

Overview

• Anvisa's authorization on Monday lets Instituto Butantan make the chikungunya vaccine in Brazil, a step that opens SUS use and should lower the price paid by the public sector.
• São Paulo also widened dengue vaccination on Monday to the general public by starting with 59-year-olds at basic health units, while keeping health workers and 10–14 year-olds in active campaigns.
• Published trials show Butantan-Chik triggered neutralizing antibodies in about 98.9% of people with mostly mild side effects, and Butantan’s single-dose dengue shot cut symptomatic cases by 65% and severe disease by 80.5% over five years.
• The chikungunya shot is indicated for adults 18 to 59 and is not given to pregnant, immunodeficient, or immunosuppressed people because it uses a live-attenuated virus.
• Early rollout data point to mixed uptake and logistics limits, with São Paulo reporting 17,835 doses for primary-care workers and 930,771 for adolescents, and some cities citing low demand and cold‑chain storage constraints.