Brazil reports first omicron related death

Brazilian health authorities reported the first omicron related death on Thursday in the city of Aparecida de Goiânia in the state of Goias.

The municipality reported that the victim was a 68-year-old man with high blood pressure suffering from "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," who was admitted to a local hospital due to health concerns.

According to hospital records, the man was fully vaccinated and had received a booster.

Local authorities have claimed that there have been 55 recognized cases of the omicron variant reported in Aparecida de Goiânia so far and transmission has since been recognized as an instance of community spread.

"We lost a vaccinated patient who had chronic health problems, which are important risk factors for COVID-19. Unfortunately, he did not hold out. One life lost among thousands saved by immunization," said the municipality's health secretary, Alessandro Magalhaes.

Brazil has accelerated its vaccination program in recent weeks and children between the ages of five and 11 are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, without having to first receive a medical prescription.

So far, Brazil has ordered 20 million doses of a pediatric vaccine developed by Pfizer and vaccination will begin later this month.

Since the start of the pandemic, Brazil has reported 22.38 million COVID-19 cases and 619,641 deaths, according to data from the Health Ministry.