By Andrea Hargraves 
On Tuesday (17), Brazil reached the mark of a third of the population aged 18 or over with a full vaccination schedule against COVID-19.
According to the Ministry of Health, 51.1 million people have taken the two doses or the single-dose Janssen vaccine, which is 32.35% of adults (158 million).
Another 61 million have already taken the first dose and are still waiting for the second dose or are late – Minister Marcelo Quiroga said recently that about 7 million did not return for the second injection.
More than 70% of Brazilians aged 18 or over have already received at least one dose of a COVID-19 immunization agent.
But the ministry and experts stress the importance of returning to the second dose.
“The guidance is for the second dose to be applied within the recommended period: 12 weeks for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Astrazeneca/Fiocruz vaccines and 4 weeks for Coronavac/Butantan. However, even for those who have missed the deadline, the guidance is to seek an immunization center to complete Vaccination course,” as stated in the volume in the note.
The delta variant, which is widely spread throughout the country, is the type that most escape partial vaccination.
One The study conducted in the United Kingdom It shows that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, also used in Brazil, provide only 31.7% protection with just one dose.
According to the full vaccination schedule, the protection against delta is 79.6%, according to the article published in New England Journal of Medicine.