COVID-19 pandemic has started around the world almost a year ago. Still, it is not showing any signs of stopping completely in near future. Some countries are in the state of recovery by dealing with the worst hit of the coronavirus. As far as economy is concerned, some improvement can be seen too. To manage coronavirus, aggressive policies have helped along with the arrival of vaccines. However, Brazil cannot be found in the list of the countries that is on the path of recovery now.

Brazil has a population over 212 million people and it has been experiencing worst wave of the virus from the time pandemic has started. Lots of the deaths and new cases have been recorded in Brazil in last few days. Therefore, most of the hospitals are almost full. Policy of Brazil regarding coronavirus is a complete mess. It has not helped the country as the President has been mocking the virus from the very beginning. In the past, President has rejected the concept of wearing mask. Now, Brazil has been hosting variant P.1 that is very deadly and contagious at the same time.

Three cities of Brazil namely Bauru, Araraquara and Serrana have completely different approach as far as tackling of coronavirus is concerned in spite of staying in a radius of 140km. As a result, lot of confusion can be seen within the country. In Araraqura, complete lockdown has been imposed after sudden surge of COVID-19 cases. However, there is no lockdown or policy for wearing mask in public in Bauru. On the occasion, Serrana is going for a complete vaccination program in order to stay safe and avoid crisis. Now, it will be interesting to see the result of different approaches within the same country in coming days.
Due to surge of coronavirus cases, hospital systems have collapsed. It may be a phenomenon that may be seen in every city of Brazil really soon. National Association of Health Secretaries in Brazil has said “Sadly, the anemic rollout of vaccines and the slow pace at which they’re becoming available still does not suggest that this scenario will be reversed in the short term.” Here, it is essential remember that India has sent a large shipment of vaccine to Brazil as a part of their vaccine diplomacy plan.

New Brazil Variant of Coronavirus is highly contagious

Through the studies, it has been found out that the new variant found in Manaus is highly contagious. As a result, you can be infected with the coronavirus even if you have recovered from it in the past. Now, the new variants from Brazil can be seen in some other countries as well such as United States and India.
Brazil variant can spread more quickly. 91% cases in Brazil have been tested positive with this P1 variant. Presence of the variant can be found in almost 21 states in Brazil among 25.
Epidemiologist from USA named Dr. Eric Feigi Ding has said that P1 variant has a 2.5x more transmissibility rate. Chances of reinfection with the P1 variant are in between 25% to 60%.
One of the biggest concerns is whether the existing vaccines will be effective on this new variant or not. It may be possible for the new variant to evade immunity that has been developed by the vaccine. However, most of the experts believe that the vaccine is expected to offer limited efficacy in case of the new variant.