COVID-19 Brazil: Infections Soar to All-Time High Amidst Aggressive Vaccination Campaign

First Published: 14th of March, 2021

On the 12th of March, 2021, Brazil recorded a staggering 85,663 new COVID-19 cases nationwide – the highest ever daily record since the start of the pandemic last year. There is a worrying sign that, despite the ongoing vaccination program, the infection rate keeps climbing. In other words, the vaccine, so far, has done little to curb the spread of the virus in Brazil.

The accumulative total of COVID-19 infections in Brazil since the start of the pandemic now stands at a mind-blowing 11.4 million. That means that at least 1 in every 20 persons living in Brazil has been infected with the COVID-19 virus at some point. What’s worse is that over 277,000 people have been killed by the COVID-19 virus in Brazil. Yesterday alone, 13th of March, 2021, nearly 2000 people died from COVID-19 complications in Brazil.

The Brazilian Health Ministry administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to a Brazilian Health Care Professional on the 17th of January, 2021. The following week, vaccination programs were rolled out aggressively across the country. To date, over 9,000,000 residents of Brazil have received at least the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Reports of a second and third variant of the COVID-19 virus have triggered heightened tensions and fears from neighboring countries. The Colombian president has this week cancelled a scheduled visit to Brazil that was supposed to take place on the 23rd of March. To the north, Guyana has cancelled flights with Brazil and tightened border security. Meanwhile, President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has called on the WHO to “step in and take control” of the COVID-19 situation in Brazil.

A few months, ago, President Maduro had shipped a truckload of oxygen tanks to Manaus during a troubling period when there was a shortage of oxygen in the hospitals of that city — dealing a severe blow to image of President Bolsonaro. The Venezuelan Head of State has repeatedly lashed out at the Brazilian President and blamed him for the out-of-control COVID-19 situation in Brazil.