Brazilian volunteers join British Covid-19 vaccine trials

A global project to test an experimental vaccine against Covid-19 will include the participation of Brazilian volunteers. Brazil will be the only country besides the United Kingdom to take part in the trials. Starting in July, 2,000 Brazilians (from a total of 10,000 participants) will be administered with the vaccine prototype, developed by Oxford University.

In Brazil, the medicine was approved by regulatory agencies and the Health Ministry. Meanwhile, however, the country has suffered from budget cuts to science and innovation funds — and President Jair Bolsonaro insists on promoting the highly controversial antimalarial drug chloroquine as a “possible cure” against the coronavirus.

Doctors think worst phase of Covid-19 is around the corner

A study among 2,808 doctors in São Paulo showed that 84.5 percent think the worst phase of the Covid-19 pandemic is still to come. The data also shows that 75 percent of doctors treat five Covid-19 patients per day.

The future of the pandemic makes 69 percent of the professionals feel apprehensive and another 3 percent said they were depressed. Half of the doctors complained about the lack of material to treat the infected people, and 71 percent think Brazil will face a shortage of health professionals.

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