A study by the Ação COVID-19 research group showed that Brazil needs to vaccinate three times more people to be able to control the coronavirus transmission rates. The country started vaccinating five months ago and has already given the first dose to 48,977,254 people and the second dose to 22,930,114 people; this means that only 14.25% of the Brazilian population received full immunization.

According to the study, 10 states and the Federal District need to vaccinate 45% more of their populations so that the number of cases of the disease starts to fall; in nine other states this percentage is above 30%.

The states with the most critical situation are Paraná, which needs to vaccinate 56.2% of its population to control the coronavirus (but so far it has vaccinated only 9.7% with two doses), and Roraima, which needs to vaccinate 54.8% of its population (and it has only vaccinated 8.2% so far).

The study points out that prioritizing the distribution of vaccines in Brazil is not done strategically. “By creating an urgent ranking and with periodic analyzes of all states, it is possible, for example, to locate deficits in vaccination coverage, identify underreporting and, with this, reach a collective national plan to fight the pandemic,” says the survey.

The Ação COVID-19 group is formed by 25 researchers associated with 13 educational institutions, including the University of São Paulo, the University of Bristol and the University of Liverpool.

Health Ministry is negotiating the purchase of 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine

Brazil‘s health minister Marcelo Queiroga said on Monday that the Health Ministry is negotiating the purchase of 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine. The minister did not give further details about the negotiation. The American pharmaceutical company that produces the immunizer has not yet requested authorization from the Brazilian health regulator Anvisa for the use of the vaccine in the country.