São Paulo city announces it has vaccinated 100 percent of adults

Vaccination station. Photo: Stefan Lambauer/Shutterstock

São Paulo City Hall announced it has hit its target of vaccinating 100 percent of its adult population with at least one jab. The city today began rolling out immunizers to teens aged 16 and 17 with pre-existing conditions and those who are pregnant.

Health officials credit reaching the milestone to this weekend’s “vaccine marathon,” which gave out jabs between 7 am on Saturday (August 14) and 5 pm on Sunday. One piece of data is concerning, however: over 211,000 people have missed their second appointments — which could compromise immunization and leave them exposed to the uber-contagious Delta variant.

One key reason why São Paulo set itself apart as a positive vaccination outlier in Brazil is its policy of making use of leftover vaccines. Health centers are ordered to avoid waste at all costs with otherwise ineligible citizens allowed to receive unused jabs at the end of each day — even if their age group has not been called yet.