OVER 100MLN COVID-19 VACCINE DOSES ADMINISTERED IN BRAZIL

Thu 03 June 2021:

The number of COVID-19 shots administered in Brazil has topped the landmark of 100 million, the Ministry of Health has announced.

WHO announced on Tuesday that it granted CoronaVac an emergency use listing, a step that should speed the vaccine’s use in many low-income countries. Brazil has the world’s second deadliest COVID-19 outbreak, with more than 461,000 deaths officially, below the United States but ahead of India.

Brazil’s vaccination campaign, slow to get off the ground because of scarce vaccine supplies, is still only targeting the elderly and patients with comorbidities. Only 15% of the population has had at least one vaccine dose.

“Brazil has crossed the landmark of 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine distributed across the country. The vaccination campaign is accelerating, the spread record must be broken in June!” the ministry tweeted late on Wednesday.

During his televised address, President Jair Bolsonaro said that all those willing to get vaccinated against the virus would receive COVID-19 shots until the end of the year.

The severity of Covid in Brazil, with 16 million cases and 450,000 lives lost, has often been attributed to Bolsonaro, who still wades unvaccinated and maskless into crowds. A congressional probe is making clear, however, that his neglect has been matched by incompetence at nearly every level of government in key processes — negotiations with drug companies, relations with other countries and supply chain management.

Brazil is ranked fourth in the world in terms of the pace of the mass vaccination campaign. According to the latest data, some 22.6 million people or roughly 10.6% of the 211 million-strong population have been fully inoculated so far.

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