On Thursday, Rio de Janeiro Municipality decided that the control of COVID-19 vaccination certificates will be mandatory for several establishments that provide services to citizens.
RELATED:
People over 12 years of age must present the “vaccination passport” to enter places such as stadiums, gyms, swimming pools, training centers, clubs, museums, exhibitions, aquariums, amusement parks, conference sites, fairs, bars, restaurants, cafes, taxis, hotels, inns, beauty salons, and shopping centers.
The decision was made after the confirmation of the presence of omicron in Sao Paulo, where three people who arrived from South Africa and Ethiopia have the new variant of COVID-19 and are isolated.
Rio de Janeiro, which is the second largest Brazilian city and has almost 20 million people, has reported almost 500,000 COVID-19 cases and over 35,000 related deaths so far. In the short term, however, its epidemiological situation could get complicated as some 600,000 people did not return to health posts to complete their vaccination process.
In the Mato Grosso state, Cuiaba City will adopt measures similar to the "vaccination passport" since its authorities estimate that some 18,000 people did not take the first dose and 57,000 stopped taking the second dose.
Given that this city is close to Bolivia and Paraguay, its authorities accepted the presentation of COVID-19 certificates issued by either other municipalities' health secretaries or the Unique Health System (SUS), which issues certificates in Portuguese, English, and Spanish.
Due to the arrival of the omicron variant, over 58 Brazilian cities canceled the New Year's Eve celebrations in public places and could cancel the 2022 Carnival parties. So far, Brazil has reported over 22 million COVID-19 cases and 615,000 related deaths.