The vaccine was approved by Anvisa for use in the Brazilian population aged 12 to 59 years, where it showed 74.7% overall effectiveness, 91.6% effectiveness against severe dengue and 100% effectiveness against hospitalizations.
The Butantan Institute, an entity linked to the São Paulo State Department of Health, will begin delivering 1.3 million doses of the dengue vaccine for the Ministry of Health’s National Immunization Program (PNI) next week. The first 300,000 doses will be delivered at the beginning of next week and, by the end of January 2026, another million doses will be delivered. Butantan-DV is the world’s first single-dose vaccine against dengue. The contract was signed this Friday (19) between the Butantan Institute and the Ministry of Health.
The delivery is possible because, even before approval by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), the Butantan Institute had already started, under risk, the production of the vaccine in its industrial park. Furthermore, Butantan entered into an international partnership with the Chinese company WuXi to increase production and expand delivery in the second half of 2026.
“Another important milestone in this journey of achievements in Brazilian science. With the formalization of the agreement between the Butantan Institute and the Ministry of Health, we will begin the delivery of doses of the vaccine against dengue. Thus, in January, it will be possible to start putting the vaccine in the arms of Brazilians”, says Esper Kallás, director of the Butantan Institute.
Butantan-DV was approved by Anvisa for use in the Brazilian population aged 12 to 59 years. In this population, the vaccine showed 74.7% overall effectiveness, 91.6% effectiveness against severe dengue and warning signs and 100% effectiveness against hospitalizations due to dengue.
According to the strategy announced by the Ministry of Health, these first doses delivered at this time by the Butantan Institute will be destined for Primary Care professionals, who work in Basic Health Units (UBSs) and in home visits. With the expansion of production capacity, the ministry should extend vaccination to the general public, starting with adults aged 59 and gradually advancing until reaching the age of 15.
Other audiences
The Butantan Institute intends to expand the age range of the vaccine to both pediatricians and those over 60 years old. To this end, it has already received approval from Anvisa to evaluate the dengue vaccine in the population aged 60 to 79 years. If the research results are satisfactory, it will be possible to request the regulatory agency to include this group in the immunization recommendations. In addition, more data must be collected to evaluate the possible inclusion of children aged 2 to 11 years in vaccine recommendations. The clinical studies carried out have already proven that the vaccine is safe in this age group.
*With information from Agência SP
