5 Brazilian state capitals run out of COVID vaccines

By Gabriel Toueg

SAO PAULO (AA) - Five Brazilian state capitals announced Wednesday that they have run out of coronavirus vaccines from various manufacturers.

They include Rio de Janeiro in the southeast, Salvador and Teresina in the northeast and Campo Grande and Cuiaba in the Midwest.

Inventories are also expected to be depleted by Sunday in at least six other capitals: Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Florianopolis in the south, Fortaleza and Joao Pessoa in the northeast and Goiania in the Midwest region.

In Mato Grosso do Sul’s capital Campo Grande, vaccinations ended Saturday covering around 33,000 elderly residents over 80. The program now depends on the delivery of new doses by the Ministry of Health.

In Cuiaba, the capital of Mato Grosso, the campaign is on hold. By the end of the week, only bedridden elderly people will be vaccinated until doses run totally out. So far, 23,518 people have been immunized, including health professionals and those aged 85 and above.

In Piaui state’s capital Teresina, the roughly 30,000 first stage doses ended Monday. Around 70% of health professionals were immunized alongside all of the elderly people in nursing homes, people with disabilities and those over 90. Bedridden elderly are still being vaccinated.

Bahia state’s capital Salvador had to stop vaccinating on Tuesday and expects to receive new doses only on Feb. 23 after administering all of its 116,600 doses. On Wednesday, about 400 residual doses were administered to the elderly in nursing homes.

Amid the lack of doses and suspension of vaccinations in some locations, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello promised in a meeting with governors to deliver 11.3 million doses before the end of February. The amount, however, is higher than that anticipated by laboratories that supply the vaccines.

According to Pazuello, 230 million doses will be delivered by July 31. The Health Ministry says it has assured that 354 million doses will be distributed this year. If confirmed, it would be possible to vaccinate nearly 85% of the population by the end of 2021.

Brazil has recorded 242,178 deaths from COVID-19, with a moving average of daily deaths above 1,000 for the 28th consecutive day. The country recorded 1,195 fatalities in the last 24 hours alone.

The number of confirmed cases in the country is approaching 10 million.

Amazonas surpassed the 10,000 mark for fatalities Wednesday. Nearly half of the state’s deaths have occurred in 2021 alone. The northern state is suffering from the collapse of its health system and from a new variant that experts say could be more contagious.

Brazil’s largest state, Sao Paulo, has recorded roughly 57,000 deaths from COVID-19, with the number of cases approaching 2 million, more than a quarter of which are in Sao Paulo city. ​​​​​​​

About 5.4 million people in the country have already received the first dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, or 2.55% of the Brazilian population. Around 266,000 people have already received the second dose, equivalent to 0.13% of the population in 17 of the 27 federative units.