Fri 19 February 2021:
Brazilian health authorities revealed that 51,879 people nationwide tested positive for the coronavirus in the past twenty-four hours, taking the number of cases seen to date to 10,030,626.
With 10,030,626 confirmed cases to date, the country has the third highest number of infections after the US and India.
Since Jan. 8, the country has registered a moving average of cases above 40,000, reaching more than 56,000 on Jan. 14.
On Thursday, the country recorded its fifth highest number of deaths in 24 hours at 1,432, taking the country’s total to 243,610.
Brazil is second only to the US in terms of the number of COVID-19 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins data.
Although Brazil has about 2.7% of the world’s population, or around 213 million inhabitants, the country’s coronavirus cases account for more than 9% of global confirmed cases.
The US, with roughly 4.3% of the world’s population, accounts for more than a quarter of global cases.
The South American nation also accounts for roughly 10% of the world COVID-19 deaths.
In the Americas, the US and Brazil are by far the nations with the highest number of cases.
Vaccination against COVID-19 in Brazil kicked off slowly, with problems over the acquisition of doses and later in the distribution of vaccines.
Even so, Brazil had vaccinated 3 million people with the first dose as of Feb. 4, some 18 days after the official start of the campaign, representing around 14 vaccines applied per one thousand inhabitants.
In comparison, among the countries that vaccinated the most against COVID-19, Israel had applied 601.4 doses per 1,000 inhabitants, the United Arab Emirates 360.4, and the UK 155.1.
Rio de Janeiro halted new vaccinations for a week on Wednesday due to a shortage of doses, one of a growing number of Brazilian cities that have run low on supplies and are demanding help from Brazil’s federal government.
City officials in Rio said they will continue to deliver second doses to those who have already been injected once, but have paused new shots for the elderly.
Other state capitals have had to adopt similar strategies, such as Salvador, in the northeastern state of Bahia, and Cuiaba, in Mato Grosso state. Looming shortages have also been reported in at least four other capitals, according to Brazilian newspaper O Globo.
To date, around 5.5 million people have been given at least the first dose of the vaccine in 26 Brazilian states and the Federal District. This represents roughly 2.6% of the country’s population.
Only around 309,000 people have been administered the second dose so far, or 0.15% of Brazilians. Vaccination in many Brazilian cities, including state capitals, had to be stopped this week in the wake of a shortage in doses.
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