RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In a city full of corruption and backroom deals, where children are regularly killed by stray bullets, militia control vast areas, and even cell phone towers can’t be repaired and upgraded without their permission and just 14% of all murders are detected, the “safest” Carnaval in the world must now be staged.
Researchers Hermano Castro of the Rio-based Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the largest manufacturer of Covid-19 vaccines in Brazil, and Roberto Medronho of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) presented a proposal to this effect to the chairman of the Special Commission for Carnaval of the Rio de Janeiro City Council, Tarcísio Motta. The report was also forwarded to the city’s Scientific Commission.
According to Motta, the most important thing is that the vaccination coverage rate is not only high in Rio’s capital. “Since Carnaval is an event where many tourists come to the city, we also need to stay at an 80% vaccination rate in the state and throughout the country,” he said. The index refers to the two complete doses or the single dose.
No mention in the report’s claims is made that a new large-scale scientific study shows a lack of correlation between the percentage of a fully vaccinated population and new Covid-19 cases.
NO ACCOMMODATION WITHOUT VACCINATION PASSPORT
The authors also suggested policing the tourists. For the hotel network, for example, the recommendation is that before and during the Carnaval, hotels charge guests for their vaccination passports.
“You can only stay in a hotel, hostel, or Airbnb if you have the vaccination card from the place of origin, whether from another country, another state, or another municipality in Rio de Janeiro. This should be a preliminary requirement so that the hotel can only admit guests if their vaccination card is up to date.”
The report indicates other measures to be taken by the authorities. Among them is the requirement of the vaccine passport in closed spaces, such as in the Sambadrome, clubs, bars, and party houses, a form of collective protection in public health.
The full vaccination coverage rate in the city of Rio is currently almost 60%. Hermano Castro believes it will reach 65% as early as November and 80% by December. “Since February is Carnaval, I think we can reach these levels”.
In Brazil, the full vaccination coverage rate is lower, about 46%. But with the first dose, the percentage of Brazilians reaches 70%.
FIOCRUZ LARGEST COVID-19 VACCINE PRODUCER IN BRAZIL
It should be noted that federal government-owned Fiocruz, driving force and co-author of this report, has a significant vested interest in ensuring that Covid-19 vaccinations en masse continue to take place in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.
Fiocruz would be at the forefront to fully benefit from the never-ending windfall of the billions spent on vaccines. As per the end of Mai 2021, Fiocruz has surpassed São Paulo’s Butantan Institute as the largest supplier of vaccines against Covid-19 in Brazil.
The institution has a contract with Oxford University and UK pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to manufacture vaccine Covishield in Brazil.
Fiocruz kicked off a large-scale production of the Covid vaccine in March 2021. Its production will occur at the Institute for Technology in Immunobiologicals of Friocruz, or Bio-Manguinhos, in Rio de Janeiro.
Furthermore, its Immunobiological Technology Institute (Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz) was selected (September 21) by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a hub for the development and production of vaccines using messenger RNA in Latin America.