MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The developers of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday criticized Brazil’s refusal to import the jab as politically motivated. Brazilian health regulator Anvisa on Monday denied requests from several states to receive batches of Sputnik V, saying it did not have the data needed to verify the jab’s safety and efficacy. “Anvisa’s delays in approving Sputnik V are unfortunately of a political nature and have nothing to do with access […]
Tag: Brazil
Brazilian regulator denies permission to import Russian Covid vaccine
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s health regulator on Monday denied a request from several states to import Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, saying it did not have the data needed to verify the jab’s safety and efficacy. “We will never allow millions of Brazilians to be exposed to products without due verification of quality, safety and efficacy, or at minimum, facing the grave situation we are now going through, that the benefits will outweigh the […]
COVID-19 death toll worldwide passes 3 million, as total cases breach 140 million
(Eagle News) — More than 3 million people have died due to COVID-19, as more infectious variants of the virus swept countries across the globe with total cases as of Saturday night, April 17, (Philippine time) breaching 140 million. The United States still leads countries with the most cases and deaths. Total cases in the US reached over 31.5 million, and total deaths at over 566,000. US is followed by India in terms of […]
In Brazil, graveyard shift reveals staggering cost of pandemic
by Paula RAMON Agence France Presse SAO Paulo, Brazil (AFP) — In almost three decades of working in Sao Paulo’s largest cemetery, the oldest gravediggers can’t remember performing more than 10 night burials. But since the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic swept across Brazil, that exception has become the rule. The vertiginous rise in deaths in Sao Paulo in recent months has forced the mayor of the country’s richest and most populous city […]
Sao Paulo reopens businesses as Brazil battles pandemic
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Sao Paulo will allow businesses and places of worship to reopen from Sunday, the government of Brazil’s most populous state announced, even as the coronavirus infection rate remains high. The state of 46 million people will enter a “transition phase” that will next see restaurants, beauty salons, cinemas and theaters reopen from April 24, it said on Friday. From Sunday, shops can open from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm, […]
Brazil’s Bolsonaro promises Biden to end deforestation, seeks financial help
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — President Jair Bolsonaro wrote a letter to his US counterpart Joe Biden pledging to end illegal deforestation in Brazil by 2030 and seeking “considerable” financial assistance to get there, officials said Thursday. The letter comes a week before Biden hosts a virtual climate summit with 40 world leaders, including Bolsonaro — a far-right climate-change skeptic with whom he previously clashed on the issue of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. “In an […]
Sao Paulo hit by shortage of intubation drugs
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Public hospitals are critically short on the drugs needed to intubate Covid-19 patients in Sao Paulo, the most populous state in Brazil, officials said Thursday, warning of a potential public health catastrophe. Sixty-eight percent of public clinics have run out of neuromuscular blockers, which are used to relax a patient’s muscles during intubation, and 61 percent are out of sedatives, a report from the state council of municipal health secretaries […]
The Brazil variant: what we know
by Louis GENOT RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — The “Brazil variant” — a more contagious mutation of the coronavirus that emerged in the Amazon late last year — is fueling fears the pandemic could flare anew, leading several countries to suspend flights from Brazil. Here is a rundown of what we know — and don’t — about the variant known as P1. Why is it worrying? There are still a lot of unknowns about […]
More than 80% of intubated Covid patients die in Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — More than 80 percent of Covid-19 patients who have to be intubated in Brazil have died since the start of the second wave of infections ravaging the country, according to researchers. The mortality rate since February 15 — 83.5 percent — is far higher than in countries such as Mexico, Britain, Germany or Italy, highlighting how the South American country’s hospitals are struggling to deal with a surge […]
Brazil’s Bolsonaro overhauls cabinet amid Covid surge
by Jordi MIRO BASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro overhauled his government Monday, changing six cabinet members including the foreign, defense and justice ministers, as the far-right leader faced mounting pressure over a deadly surge of Covid-19. Bolsonaro, who comes up for re-election in October 2022, has drawn backlash with his handling of the pandemic in hard-hit Brazil, where the average daily death toll has nearly quadrupled since the start of the year […]
Brazil reports 3,650 dead from Covid in one day
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil set a new daily Covid-19 death toll record of 3,650 on Friday, the health ministry said, as the pandemic spins out of control in Latin America’s largest economy. Since February, Brazil has seen record after record in fatalities and new cases of infection as the country second hardest hit anywhere in the world, after the United States, with more than 307,000 dead from the pandemic. It broke through the […]
Brazil’s Bolsonaro installs fourth health minister of pandemic
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro formally installed his fourth health minister of the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday, ending a week of uncertainty over who actually held the post amid a deadly surge of Covid-19. The far-right president signed the decree installing cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as health minister in a private ceremony, replacing army general Eduardo Pazuello, the health ministry said in a statement. “The new minister meets the technical requirements and has […]





