They traveled abroad for a vaccine. Now they are in limbo

As 2021 began, Brazil faced a perfect pandemic storm. New daily Covid deaths were rising fast — and would reach the 4,000 mark by April — and vaccine rollouts were stuttering. At that pace, young adults could not envision when they would ever be immunized against the coronavirus. For 30-year-olds without pre-existing conditions, some government systems predicted vaccines to only be available by mid-2022.

As of late May, only 20 percent of Brazilians had taken at least one dose, and only 10 percent of the population was fully vaccinated.

So Brazil’s rich and super-rich opted instead to fly abroad to speed up their vaccination process. As countries closed their borders to travelers from Brazil, many did two week-long stays in Mexico — before flying to the U.S. — or Serbia, before going to France, Germany, or the United Kingdom. 

While their social media posts caused envy among their friends and followers back home, the tables now...