Brazil has signed a deal with Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech for the purchase of 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, news agency Reuters reported. Brazil's Health Ministry on Thursday signed a contract for delivery between March and May.
The ministry said in a statement that the deal is worth 1.6 billion reais ($290,000), with the first 8 million doses expected to arrive in March.
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Brazil has reported 1,541 new Covid-19 deaths on Thursday, the second-highest daily death toll since the pandemic began, taking total fatalities to 251,498. With 65,998 new cases, the South American country has now registered 10,390,461 cases, the world's third-worst outbreak behind the United States and India.
So far Brazil has vaccinated less than 4 per cent of its population of 210 million people, with some cities stopping immunization campaigns last week due to a shortage of vaccines.
-With agency inputs
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