China's Sinovac vaccine creates 'pandemic oasis' in Brazilian town: media

TOKYO -- The CoronaVac vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech has rendered a Brazilian town "maskless" and created a "pandemic oasis" amid surging COVID-19 infections, Japanese media has reported.

In Serrana, about a four-hour drive from the city of Sao Paulo, a vaccination campaign known as "Project S" has successfully inoculated 97.7 percent of its adult residents with the Chinese-made shot, Nikkei Asia reported.

Serrana was hit particularly hard by the first wave of infections in Brazil last year. Thanks to the vaccine, people in the town are now able to chat together cheerfully on benches with no masks.

The program by the Sao Paulo state government was launched in February, and the last participants received their second dose on April 11.

Amid the scramble for Western vaccines, the project with Chinese vaccines offers a look at a post-COVID-19 future for developing countries, the Japanese news website reported.

"I'm glad I got the vaccine," said 47-year-old Laudair Anulai. "Now I don't have to be afraid of the coronavirus."