Mass vaccination for Rio's island residents as Brazil passes 500,000 deaths

Rio de Janeiro health authorities began vaccinating residents over the age of 18 on Paquetá Island of the coast off the city as part of a mass vaccination program between the Health Secretary and Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). The program aims to fully vaccinate all 3,530 of the island’s adults who are 18 or older with two doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine by September. The move comes as Brazil becomes the second country in the world to record more than 500,000 deaths related to covid-19.