COVID-19 in Brazil: Overall Impact and Singularities

Abstract

Since its outbreak in late 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread at an alarming rate across the globe, with a case tally of over 370 million and a death toll of more than 5.6 million as of late January 2022. Ranking third among the world’s most affected hotspots, Brazil was by far the hardest hit among its Latin American neighbors, with over 25 million cases and a death toll in excess of 625,000, which places it second worldwide. The actual toll is likely higher. It is underestimated because of limited testing and inconsistency in nationwide cause-of-death reporting. Brazil is one of the largest developing free market economies in the world. It is, however, tainted by having one of the highest socioeconomic disparities, with roughly a fifth of its population living under the poverty line, with little access to basic sanitary facilities. On the positive side, Brazil has the largest publicly funded healthcare system in the world. Despite having lagged behind vaccination rollout initially, it took a giant leap over the past six months, which resulted in two-thirds of its population being vaccinated. There was also a tremendous drop in both SARS-CoV-2 cases and death rates. Unfortunately, cases have begun to swell again with the advent of Omicron. In this chapter, we discuss the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, with a particular focus on underserved minorities.