Brazil says will receive two million AstraZeneca doses by Friday from India

FILE PHOTO: An employee in personal protective equipment (PPE) removes vials of AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, from a visual inspection machine inside a lab at Serum Institute of India, Pune

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's Health Ministry on Thursday said 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine should arrive on Friday from India, confirming a Reuters report earlier in the day saying the Asian country would begin the shipments.

The announcement comes amid delays in receiving the vaccine from India, the latest in a series of miscues surrounding the country's inoculations drive which have embarrassed the government of President Jair Bolsonaro.

(Reporting by Pedro Fonseca; Editing by Christian Plumb)