The Health Ministry reported the first death from monkeypox in Brazil on Friday. The patient was a 41-year-old man with underlying medical conditions, including low immunity and lymphoma. He died in a hospital in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte.
The confirmation came one day after the government announced the creation of an emergency committee to prepare a vaccination plan.
Health Surveillance Secretary Arnaldo Medeiros said at a Friday press conference that the health ministry had ordered 50,000 doses of a vaccine through a partnership with the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO). He expects the doses to arrive in two separate batches, in September and November.
The vaccine ordered by the Brazilian government is produced by Bavarian Nordic, a Denmark-based pharmaceutical company. It is the same vaccine being supplied to the U.S. and...