MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian man takes five shots against COVID-19 and was aiming for a sixth when he was caught

Rio de Janeiro needed to stop vaccinating due to lack of doses while one single man has tested most of the different brands

Rio de Janeiro city officials have reported a local man was able to get vaccinated five times in ten weeks against covid-19, presumably thanks to failures in the electronic documenting system.

The multivaccinated subject is now expected to explain how he was able to be injected with Pfizer, Coronavac and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.

Rio de Janeiro City's Health Secretariat has already identified the suspect and confirmed he had taken five doses between May 12 and July 21.

He took two doses of Pfizer, another two of Coronavac and one of AstraZeneca, all of which is registered on his vaccination card.

To receive the vaccine, people must be of the age determined by the municipal calendar, submit identification and then, for the second dose, they must produce the document attesting to them having taken the initial one.

According to the mayor's office, the vaccine-thirsty patient went to three different health posts, where he presumably took advantage of moments of failure in the electronic system to receive the doses for which he was not eligible.

The case was discovered when the perpetrator was trying to get a sixth dose on August 16. Authorities have also launched an inquiry to determine whether this is an isolated case or just one of many.

Several states in Brazil have reported a lack of immunizers to comply with the schedule established by the Ministry of Health and Rio de Janeiro has even suspended its campaign several times due to lack of doses.

Of the 212 million Brazilians, 58% have received at least one dose and 25% took the full treatment.

Authorities have also had to take measures against the so-called “vaccine sommeliers,” who roam health units looking for the immunizer of their choice. In June, the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, criticized these “sommeliers,” some of whom even took the third dose: “That's a crime, that's a fraud,” he said.

Brazil reports more than 570,000 deaths from covid-19, a figure exceeded only by the United States.