(2 Sep 2021) Brazilian cities have started providing COVID-19 booster shots to their elderly residents in an attempt to protect them against the coronavirus's rapidly spreading delta variant, even as most people haven't yet received their second shots.
Rio de Janeiro, currently the nation's epicenter of the delta variant and home to one of its largest elderly populations, began administering the vaccine's third doses on Wednesday.
Northeastern cities Salvador and Sao Luis started on Monday.
Sao Paulo, the nation's most populous city, will do the same next week.
At the Retired Artists nursing home in Rio de Janeiro, elderly residents were receiving their third jabs on Thursday.
One resident, Abdias Do Nascimento, 67, said it made him "very happy", while another, Jamie Leibovitch, 75, said "everybody should support" the rollout of booster vaccinations.
Delta is the most contagious variant identified so far, but COVID-19 vaccines still provide strong protection, with nearly all hospitalizations and deaths among the unvaccinated.
Even so, many elderly Brazilians who have received two shots have retreated into their homes for fear they are vulnerable.
Sao Paulo state on Tuesday registered its first confirmed death of a person infected with delta: a 74-year-old woman who had received shots produced by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac.
Brazil's cases and deaths have been falling for two months, with 644 deaths in a 7-day average through Sept. 3.
That's well below the weekly peak of more than 3,000 in April.
Experts have warned that delta could drive a fresh surge of contaminations, especially among the unvaccinated and elderly.
Only 55 million of Brazil's 210 million residents are fully vaccinated, according to the World Health Organization.
Many studies suggest that just having one dose does not prevent against the more transmissible variant.
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