MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil surpasses 10 million Covid-19 cases, John Hopkins University

On Thursday, the country recorded its fifth highest number of deaths in 24 hours at 1,432, taking the country’s total to 243,610.

Brazil surpassed 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday, according to a running tally by US-based Johns Hopkins University. With 10,030,626 confirmed cases to date, the country has the third-highest number of infections after the US and India. Brazil recorded more than 49,000 new cases on Thursday.

Since Jan. 8, the country has registered a moving average of cases above 40,000, reaching more than 56,000 on Jan. 14. On Thursday, the country recorded its fifth highest number of deaths in 24 hours at 1,432, taking the country’s total to 243,610.

Brazil is second only to the US in terms of the number of COVID-19 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins data.

Although Brazil has about 2.7% of the world’s population, or around 213 million inhabitants, the country’s coronavirus cases account for more than 9% of global confirmed cases.

The US, with roughly 4.3% of the world’s population, accounts for more than a quarter of global cases. Brazil also accounts for roughly 10% of the world COVID-19 deaths. In the Americas, the US and Brazil are by far the nations with the highest number of cases.

Vaccination against COVID-19 in Brazil kicked off slowly, with problems over the acquisition of doses and later in the distribution of vaccines.

Even so, Brazil had vaccinated 3 million people with the first dose as of Feb. 4, some 18 days after the official start of the campaign, representing around 14 vaccines applied per one thousand inhabitants.

In comparison, among the countries that vaccinated the most against COVID-19, Israel had applied 601.4 doses per 1,000 inhabitants, the United Arab Emirates 360.4, and the UK 155.1.

To date, around 5.5 million people have been given at least the first dose of the vaccine in 26 Brazilian states and the Federal District. This represents roughly 2.6% of the country’s population.

Only around 309,000 people have been administered the second dose so far, or 0.15% of Brazilians. Vaccination in many Brazilian cities, including state capitals, had to be stopped this week in the wake of a shortage in doses.