COVID-19: Amazon variant 'three times more contagious,' says Brazilian Health Minister

Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, on Thursday, February 11, said that the coronavirus variant identified in the Brazilian Amazon is three times more contagious. However, the early analysis suggests that the vaccines are effective against it. Talking about the recent surge in cases, he said that the rise in the cases was ‘unexpected’ as the Brazilian variant deeply affected the jungle city of Manaus. However, it is all under control now. 

Current situation in Brazil

Speaking about the vaccination campaign, he said that the aim is to vaccinate half its eligible population by June and the remaining by the end of the year. Brazil has been negotiating with Russia and India to buy 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The ambitious inoculation drive earlier this month after regulators approved two COVID-19 jabs developed by China’s Sinovac and Oxford/AstraZeneca’s Covishield. Brazil has also been gifted two million doses of Covishield vaccine, manufactured by Serum Institute of India. 

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After receiving the vaccine, President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro tweeted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that the country was 'honoured' to have a great partner like India. Taking to his official Twitter handle, President Bolsonaro shared an image of Lord Hanuman carrying the Coronavirus vaccine-like 'Sanjeevani' from India to Brazil expressing his gratitude to India for helping Brazil overcome the crisis. “Namaskar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil. Dhanyavaad!”, tweeted Jair Bolsonaro. 

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Brazil is the second-worst-hit country from the novel coronavirus with 9,716,298 cases and 236,397 fatalities. Four people who travelled to Tokyo from Brazil were identified to be carrying a new mutation of the virus. After this, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement stating that ‘Brazilian variant’ contains a set of mutations that might make it difficult to be recognised by antibodies.

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(Image Credits: Unsplash)