Coronavirus

City sees cases plummet after mass vaccination trial

botucatu vaccination trial
Photo: GovSP

Last month, the São Paulo city of Botucatu was the stage of a mass vaccination study to assess the effects of widespread immunization using the AstraZeneca vaccine. Now, six weeks after the trial began, researchers and local health officials have seen a 71-percent drop in new coronavirus cases.

In the last two weeks alone, Botucatu has seen 45 percent fewer Covid-19 cases, highlighting the efficacy of universal inoculation. A similar experiment using the CoronaVac vaccine was carried out in Serrana, also in São Paulo state. Covid-19 deaths in the 45,000-people city fell 95 percent thanks to the widespread coverage of vaccination.