Nation lends Brazil helping hand

The biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, based in Beijing－one of the frontrunners in the race to find a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2－has chosen Brazil as one of the countries in which to conduct clinical trials.

Jorge Kalil, professor of clinical immunology and allergy at the University of Sao Paulo, who is leading a research team working on a domestic vaccine, said that as the disease is continuing to spread in Brazil, it is an ideal testing site. The country also has a relatively high quality of medicine and a diverse population, which can also help.

However, ending the pandemic in Brazil may prove challenging even after a vaccine is developed. COVID-19 has reached the country's poorest people, including isolated tribes in the Amazon rainforest. Cities in the heart of the jungle, such as Manaus, have seen patients' bodies piling up.

Ana Luiza Tunes, Pedro Tunes' sister and also an environmental engineer and co-founder of Tunes Ambiental, said: "In Manaus, the public health system collapsed in April and May due to the high number of patients infected with COVID-19. The capital of Amazonas even buried stacked coffins due to the high number of deaths in April.

"That month, coffins from the largest public cemetery in Manaus began to be buried in mass graves."

Amazonas state has reported more than 107,000 cases and 3,359 deaths from COVID-19, while Sao Paulo state has reported 627,000 cases and more than 25,000 deaths.

According to the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, 635 such people have died from COVID-19. A total of 21,645 cases have been confirmed among 146 ethnic groups.

Ana Luiza Tunes said, "Indigenous people from the Amazon and throughout Brazil do not have an immunological memory to resist the simplest flu. These native peoples may disappear if the coronavirus spreads through their villages."

Impact played down

Since the pandemic emerged in Brazil, the country has had three ministers of health. The incumbent is Eduardo Pazuello, an army general without any prior experience in health. The two previous ministers resigned due to differences with the president over managing the pandemic.

William Magnusson, a senior researcher with the biodiversity unit of the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, said, "Almost all healthcare not associated with COVID-19 has been shut down, but the impact of this, independent of COVID-19 infections, cannot be determined because there is not enough effective testing."

Hugo Nogueira, an international relations analyst in Belo Horizonte, said: "Sometimes, we feel as if we are making fools of ourselves by quarantining. We can see traffic returning to normal, as if there have been no changes due to COVID-19. People are chatting and getting together, going out in the streets without wearing masks, and partying during weekends. Even those who never exercised before are now running on the streets.

"If everyone is returning to normal lives, we are also tempted to go out and pretend that there is no pandemic."