Brazil has recorded its first confirmed
case of the highly contagious coronavirus variant
discovered in South Africa, a fresh
danger sign for a country already ravaged by the world’s worst daily death toll
and scrambling to make space for burials.
Scientists warned on Wednesday that yet
another new variant could be emerging in Brazil’s inland city of Belo
Horizonte.
The Federal University of Minas Gerais said in
a statement that two samples taken in the city included a previously unseen set
of 18 mutations, including some in the same genes modified by the South African
variant and Brazil’s already prevalent variant, known as P.1.
The
detection of additional variants adds to concerns that a brutal COVID-19 wave
battering Brazil may keep breaking grim records for weeks to come. On Tuesday,
the Health Ministry reported a single-day record of 4,195 deaths, followed by
another 3,829 fatalities on Wednesday.
Sao Paulo, the country’s biggest city, on
Wednesday said it would begin opening some 600 new graves per day, well beyond
the record of 426 burials in a day on March 30. The city is also preparing
plans for a “vertical cemetery,” a crypt with 26,000 drawer-like graves that
can be built in 90 days once approved.
The outbreak in South America’s largest
country may overtake the United States to become the world’s deadliest, some
medical experts predict.
The woman in Sao Paulo state now confirmed as
infected by the South African virus variant was first identified by the
Butantan biomedical institute as a possible case of a new local variant.
Further analysis confirmed it as the first known local case of the variant
widely circulating in South Africa and elsewhere.
“It could be a huge duel,” said Maria Carolina
Sabbaga, one of Butantan’s coordinators for studying new variants. “I think P.1
has already taken over. I’m not sure if the South African will overtake P.1,
let’s see.”
The South African variant in studies appears
to lessen protection from current vaccines.
José Patané, a Butantan researcher, said the
variant most likely arrived in Brazil after traveling through Europe toward the
end of 2020.
The first local diagnosis, a woman in her 30s
in the city of Sorocaba, had not traveled abroad or come into contact with
someone who did, indicating local community transmission, researchers said.
Slow
vaccine rollout
A
possible surge of the South African variant could further complicate Brazil’s
slow vaccine rollout.
Brazil’s COVID-19 immunization program is
built around the vaccines from AstraZeneca Plc and China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd,
which have proven effective against the Brazilian variant in preliminary
studies, according to officials.
Research released on Wednesday showed the
Sinovac shot was 50% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in a study of
nearly 68,000 health workers in Manaus, where the P.1 strain first emerged as
the predominant variant. The results support preliminary findings of separate
research reported by Reuters last month.
Immunizations have been slow to ramp up in
Brazil after the government dragged its feet last year in acquiring vaccines
while other countries raced to secure supplies.
President Jair Bolsonaro has shifted his tone
on vaccines, touting shots he had until recently disdained. But the far-right
former army captain still opposes social distancing and mask requirements that
health experts see as essential for curbing virus transmission.
Under pressure from business leaders desperate
to vaccinate their workforces and reopen operations, the lower house of
Congress approved a controversial bill to allow private-sector vaccine
purchases. After the lower house concluded voting on amendments Wednesday, the
bill will now go to the Senate for consideration.
The proposal would allow businesses to acquire
vaccines to inoculate their employees as long as they donate the same number of
shots to the public health system. Under current rules, businesses could only
do that once the country has fully vaccinated risk groups outlined in a
national immunization plan.
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