Brazil vaccinates 90% of target population with first Covid dose

Brasilia, Dec 3 (IANS) Brazil has vaccinated 90 per cent of its target population of 177 million people with at least one dose of a vaccine against Covid-19, the Ministry of Health has said.

In total, 159.3 million Brazilians started vaccination and 79.03 per cent have been fully vaccinated with two doses or a single-dose vaccine, reported Xinhua news agency.

As the campaign progresses, the pandemic in Brazil appears to be waning, with a 92.57 per cent drop in the daily average number of Covid deaths since the peak of the pandemic on April 19, said the ministry on Thursday.

So far, more than 372.5 million vaccine doses against Covid have been distributed to states and the Federal District out of more than 550 million doses purchased for 2021.

Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga called on Brazilians to get their shots, saying steady deliveries would guarantee the supply of doses needed to continue expanding the vaccination campaign.

"We want every Brazilian who can get vaccinated to freely seek out a vaccination center. There are 38,000 centers spreading throughout Brazil, and the healthcare professionals put on a real show. That's why we have a sustained decline in the number of cases and of deaths," said Queiroga.

"We managed to reduce the moving average of more than 3,000 daily deaths to an average of less than 250. That is the strength of our SUS (Unified Health System)," said Queiroga.

Brazil has 213.3 million inhabitants, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.

As of Thursday, Brazil registered 2,21,18,782 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 6,15,179 deaths from the disease.