Brazil asks countries with additional doses of covid-19 vaccines to share them

(CNN) – The Brazilian Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, on Friday asked the countries that have additional doses of vaccine against covid-19 to share them “as soon as possible.”

«We reiterate our call to those who have extra doses of vaccines to share them with Brazil as soon as possible, allowing us to advance in our extensive vaccination campaign to contain the critical phase of the pandemic and prevent the proliferation of new strains and variants of the virus Queiroga said during a virtual press conference of the World Health Organization (WHO).

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| Brazil’s Ministry of Health confirmed more than 3,000 additional deaths from COVID-19 this Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths recorded during the pandemic to 401,186. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| “With sadness on all sides, Brazil today registers 400,000 victims of covid-19,” said Carlos Lula, president of the National Council of Health Secretaries, in a statement. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| Brazil became the second country in the world to officially exceed this mark, after the United States, a country that is close to 575,000 deaths. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| The death toll in Brazil rose rapidly after Christmas and New Years, making 2021 the most severe period of infections since the new coronavirus arrived in the country in March 2020. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| In memory of the 400,000 who died from covid-19, activists from the non-governmental organization Río de Paz placed body bags on Copacabana beach. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| In addition to paying tribute to the dead in Brazil, this symbolic act was also a way of protesting against the authorities’ response to the covid-19 pandemic. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| On a banner located on Copacabana beach you can see the figure of 400,000 dead and a legend that says “Who are the perpetrators or accomplices?” (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has long downplayed the severity of the pandemic, while resisting containment measures and the use of masks. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| For this reason, the Brazilian Senate began an investigation into the federal government’s response to covid-19, which could hamper the re-election candidacy of President Jair Bolsonaro. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| As the death toll from covid-19 rises in Brazil, young people account for a higher proportion of deaths, as older Brazilians are among the few who have been vaccinated. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| Fiocruz, a Brazilian public health research institute, reported that patients between the ages of 20 and 29 had the steepest increase in deaths from COVID-19 between early January and mid-April this year. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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| Meanwhile, Brazil’s vaccination campaign is proceeding at a slow pace, with around 6% of its 210 million people fully vaccinated. (Credit: Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

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Queiroga also nodded to China, the main supplier of Active Pharmaceutical Supplies (IFA) for the vaccines that have been used in Brazil. “We have the fundamental cooperation of the People’s Republic of China,” he said.

Brazil already registers more than 400,000 deaths from covid-19 (in the thousands daily)

Brazil has faced difficulties importing IFA from Chinese factories that produce Coronavac and AstraZeneca vaccines in March and April. So far, they are the only ones used in the vaccination campaign in Brazil. A batch of 1 million doses of the Pfizer / Biontech vaccines arrived in Brazil on Thursday and is expected to be applied in the next few days.

Only about 6% of Brazil’s 210 million people have been fully vaccinated, according to the country’s Ministry of Health, a rate that lags behind some neighboring countries like Chile and Uruguay, even as Brazil’s outbreak is one of the worst in the world.

Despite the slow launch of the vaccine, Queiroga said he expects the Brazilian population to be “fully vaccinated” by the end of the year.

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