COVID-19: 4.2 mi new vaccine doses to be distributed in Brazil

BRASILIA. KAZINFORM - Brazil’s Ministry of Health on Thursday (Mar. 25) is starting to distribute a new batch of vaccines against COVID-19. Doses total 4.2 million, including the first shipment from the international consortium Covax Facility—1 million doses—and a new batch of Coronavac produced in Brazil by Butantan Institute—3.2 million, Agencia Brasil reports.

The vaccines should be delivered by Saturday (Mar. 27), and are expected to serve the remaining health agents and elderly people aged 70–74.

In a statement, the ministry declares it expects the new shipment to expand the immunization campaign to the priority public aged 65–69.

All vaccines should be applied as first doses and serve more than 4 million Brazilians.

Thus far, 33.9 million vaccine doses have been sent, with 12.4 million jabs given as the first dose and 3.8 million as the second.

According to project Our World in Data, linked to Oxford University, Brazil ranks fifth in the amount of doses applied. Considering the country’s population, the position drops to 59th. The rate of vaccines in every group of a hundred people is 7.5.