Vaccine reaches descendants of runaway slaves as COVID-19 ravages Brazil

[Judi Lynn]

APRIL 8, 202111:39 AM UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
By Pilar Olivares
3 MIN READ

MAGE, Brazil (Reuters) - A ray of hope reached a community descended from runaway slaves outside Rio de Janeiro this week as it received its first doses of COVID-19 vaccine after a long fight for recognition at a time when Brazil has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

The community in Mage, 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Rio, is known as a “quilombo,” a settlement founded by people who escaped from slavery and now inhabited by Brazilians of African heritage who maintain traditions stemming from their roots.

“It was a constant, daily fight, without sleep,” Ana Beatriz Bernardes Nunes, vice president of the Association of Quilombola Communities in Rio de Janeiro, said of the struggle to get the government to include the communities among priority groups for vaccination, alongside Brazil’s indigenous peoples.

“Today, after many deaths, we are vaccinating our community,” she added.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-brazil-vaccination/vaccine-reaches-descendants-of-runaway-slaves-as-covid-19-ravages-brazil-idUSKBN2BV2JB

[lark]

1. My daughters mother in law is 73 and just now got her shot.

They are widely unavailable for the poor or working class Brazilians - even those who are quite elderly. Thank God for Biden here.