Brazil, which fought one of the world’s most deadliest Covid-19 outbreaks, faces another challenge – vaccination of its indigenous peoples. The task becomes tougher as these communities are distributed – deep into the heart of the world’s largest rainforest – the Amazon.
An Instagram post published by Brazilian health worker and doctor Erik Jennings Simões of a son carrying his father to a makeshift vaccination centre deep inside the Amazon forest has now gone viral, reflecting the task Brazil’s healthcare workers face.
The father and son duo belong to the Zo’e indigenous community – which has over 325 residents. Tawy, the son, a 24-year-old man, is seen carrying Wahu, his 67-year-old father home after both received the Covid-19 jab. Simões, who clicked the picture, told the BBC of the challenges Brazilian authorities face in order to vaccinate its indigenous people. He also said that he clicked the photo last year when the nation began its vaccination drive but shared it on New Year’s Day to spread hope and positivity. He said that his picture showed ‘a very beautiful demonstration of the lovely relationship’ between Wahu and Tawy.
Brazil during the launch of its vaccination programme said that people from the indigenous communities are a priority. The healthcare workers instead of going to every village have set up huts in forests to encourage vaccination since visiting every village will require weeks. They contact the people through radio and agree on a vaccination system.
In Peruvian Amazon, some indigenous communities like the Urarina did not know of Covid-19 until the health workers arrived with vaccines. “We didn’t know about Covid-19. This is the first we are hearing about it,” Mariano Quisto told news agency Reuters. Quisto hails from Mangual, a village deep inside Peruvian Amazon, and only accessible via boat from Iquitos, the world’s largest metropolis that is unreachable by road, according to a Reuters report.
“I decided to get the vaccine so that I don’t get sick. Because it’s possible if traders come to visit they will bring the disease and pass it on,” a Urarina woman was quoted as saying. Peru, like Brazil, also faces an uphill task of vaccinating its indigenous people who live in the Amazon.
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