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At least 320,000 people have died in Brazil of COVID-19 since the pandemic began early last year
More than 3,800 people die every day of COVID-19 in Brazil, according to the latest figures, making the country a global coronavirus hot spot. Photographer Jonathan Alpeyrie has been giving the many victims a face. Here, at one of South America s biggest cemeteries in the Botafogo district of Rio de Janeiro, family members observe physical distancing measures as they mourn a 60-year-old who succumbed to the virus. His remains were brought to the grave by people in protective clothing.
New SARS-CoV-2 lineage has spread across many Brazilian states
Researchers in Brazil have identified the emergence of a new lineage of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Brazil that has spread across multiple states in the country.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that continues to pose a threat to global public health and the worldwide economy.
Marilda Siqueira from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (Fiocruz) in Rio de Janeiro and colleagues say this new variant of interest (VOI) probably emerged in August 2020 and is already widely distributed in Brazil.
Designated as N.9, the variant emerged in the B.1.1.33 lineage and comprised 35% of all B.1.1.33 sequences detected between November 2020 and February 2021.
Brazil will receive supplies to produce Oxford s COVID-19 vaccines
Brazil will receive supplies to produce Oxford s COVID-19 vaccines
Brasilia, Feb 27 (Prensa Latina) The Government of Brazil will receive on Saturday raw material to produce 12 million Covid-19 vaccines developed by the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) and the Anglo-Swedish company AstraZeneca in a national laboratory.
The so-called Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) manufactured by the Wuxi Biologics laboratory, in China, will be stored at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (Fiocruz), in Rio de Janeiro, the Ministries of Health and Foreign Relations reported.
This will be the second batch of APIs arriving in the country to produce the AstraZeneca vaccine. Brazil received from China the first batch of ingredient on January 6th.
A Notícia published the government’s vaccination plan against smallpox.
The following day, the so-called Vaccine Revolt began in Rio de Janeiro, then the country’s capital. The popular uprising left at least 30 dead and shook the structures of Brazil’s then-young republic.
The circumstances that led to this unprecedented revolt a swirl of anti-science arguments, denialism about the benefits of vaccination, and fake news about the effectiveness of the vaccine are not too distant from what’s happening in Brazil today. As with smallpox in the early 20th century, COVID-19 is now being used politically by fringe groups seeking to destabilize power. The difference this time is that the national government itself is helping to incite the revolt against vaccines and science.
Why are scientists so worried about the Brazil coronavirus variant? Mutant sweeps through city where 75% of the population SHOULD have been protected by previous infection
Experts say Brazilian city of Manaus should have had herd immunity after 75% caught virus during first wave
Yet it suffered devastating second wave which has led to speculation new P.1 variant can escape immunity
Scientists say this could make the vaccine less effective because they rely on the same types of antibodies