RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Brazil's health regulator Anvisa said in a statement on Friday it authorized Sao Paulo's Butantan Institute biomedical center to import 6 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by China's Sinovac .

The vaccine, known as CoronaVac, is still in phase 3 clinical trials in Brazil and has not been registered for wider use in Brazil, Anvisa said. (Reporting by Pedro Fonseca, writing by Jake Spring, editing by Chris Reese)