international crisis was wilson legacy of america. thank you very much. again, that's a doctor you invited for a member of the german boonies stock for the christian democrats. really appreciate your time. like right. but right. you're watching d. w. news coming up next is your business news. a mike, look who in berlin from me and the team. thanks for watching. take care. and we'll see you at the top of the next out through the fight against the corona virus pandemic. how has the rate of infection been developing? what does the latest research say? information and context?

the corona virus updates. they covered 19th, special next on d. w. are you ready to get a little more extreme? these places in europe are smashing all the records. step into a bold adventure. just don't lose your grip. it's the treasure map for modern globetrotters. discover some of europe's wykard breaking sites on youtube and now also in book form. ah ah, brazil has been a latin american leader in fighting the corona virus. but it wasn't always that way . the country was battered by the coven 19 pandemic, with 618000 debts. it's 2nd only to the united states for the number of fatalities

. now, infections in brazil have plummeted to due to high vaccination rates. nearly 80 percent of adults have been vaccinated at least once. but fear remains, particularly as the con prepares for the impact of the new on a cron variant. welcome to your coven 19 special. i'm daniel winter. brazil is ending the year on a high, not have covered cases like some countries but vaccinations. let's take a look now at how the country face down mounting deaths and the president who down played the impact of the virus to become one of the walls most vaccinated populations against cove. it hardly any one in the world bought it possible a year ago. the corridor, this hospital in the brazilian city of toledo is deserted. a lot of the emergency equipment has been put away in the storage room. this is the result of what might

be brazil's more successful vaccination drive against corporate 19 she goes, i think what we used to have 40 intubated patience in you. now we don't have any, and it's very rare for as these days to after provide that level of intensive care . cases are also much less severe than before. so we can think more carefully about how best to treat those who are sick and to give them a better prognosis. my dad will be processing major. but with that family overseas, it is a far cry from the 1st half of 2021 copied casualties peaked in april, reaching more than $4000.00 deaths in the 24 hour period, brazil's mega city. so paolo was averaging between 70800 deaths a day to day. it is the country's poster child for corona virus. vaccinations with 99 percent of adults here having received at least one shot by november. i

asked, is course, i think people should get vaccinated and that means every one of the set up with all the law as it is their minds me that the me view. many brazilians are afraid of the virus and get vaccinated, so as not to be contagious. so as i am at oma in record, started, brazilians believe in vaccines. after all, we have been getting vaccinated against tropical diseases for a long time. we like it. but while brazil may have turned a corner in fighting the pandemic for now, there is one persistent problem. poverty has been exacerbated. ordinary brazilians are struggling earlier in the year, we met sylvia dale seems a cook, who was supporting 3 other adults as the only one in her family to still have work, albeit just one day a week. she used to work other jobs too,

but her other employers let her go for fear of infection that want to get us up. and in the age you led them at that this pandemic is difficult. it's going on. i love her starving. none of that apart from alchemy, damage, it does to your health, but look at this cannot be met. we're all on the same boat back the modem. back every afternoon. sylvia was chewing up the food donations since the beginning of the pandemic in brazil in march last year. the residents association has been distributing rations. the latest figures show the economy stagnating, and inflation rising. food prices increasing while jobs remain few and far between . while the worst may be over the pandemic is still ravaging brazil, bringing poverty and hunger to more and more people unless get more now it's fabulous. i'll a research doctor specializing in infectious diseases. thank you very much for joining us, our fabio. and what's your opinion on why brazil has been so quick to take up the

vaccines? thank you for having me here, daniel. well, i think that, and we've known we've known that for sure for decades that the main reason for the success in brazil with vaccination is the public health system that is universal in brazil. so free for every brazilian. and within this system, there has been for decades, very complex and efficient vaccination system that has worked to get even to very remote areas in the country. so we created a culture of vaccination as well as the for structured, needed to get to every brazilian as quick as possible. and so it was that infrastructure which already existed that overcame the resistance from the top of national government. would you say? yes, especially because this health care system that we have in brazil, that is similar to what has been referenced in the u. k. provides

institutional structure. so it's very solid. so our institutions are stronger than any previous already or and temporary government who will not. that might not be supporting this system as much as needed. so obviously there were several and major limitations because it's been under funded chronically. but still it's in place and working and it has the population more to 75 percent of the population actually uses the system regularly and it is structured in a way that locals. our agents are community agents that knock on people's doors and follow the health situation. off the entire family, so they rely on this system. the brazilians rely on this public health system. and that's why vaccination was not such a new idea or challenging idea. despite all the difficulties that we had with

communication. and just goes to show how important that kind of long term investment in education around vaccines, especially around infrastructure and how that re pays off. but when we look to the short term, is it time for brazil now to open up a new year, open up the carnival? is some politicians are suggesting or is that just too early? well, we are going through a new moment. we're learning as time goes by how to deal with the demick and not only from the perspective of the virus and disease, but also as a community, as a global society. so after 2 years of going back and forth with locked downs and strict measures, we have to learn how to better handle the situation because it's a much different situation from what we had 2 years ago. as was mentioned in brazil,

we have the majority of the population in major cities like sound polar and rio over 90 percent of the adult population is fully immunized. so even if we have a surge of cases which is likely to happen is already starting at this point, like we see in europe and north america, we expect that hospitalizations and the death toll will be very different and a lot smaller than we had in previous waves, so hopefully and we are preparing for that situation. we will deal with mild disease that will actually create pressure on the health care system, but not in hospital, is it hospitalizations and decimals. ok, and you're mentioning in that the will factoring in the, on the chrome variant and the new wave which could come from that. so that flexibility is important that as well with dealing with new variance. but i want to move on to, as we saw in the report, the fact that poverty has wasn't in brazil. what's the connection in brazil between

poverty and cove? it well, it's a direct connection as it is, i think, world wide. because as we have to slow down the economy and all the activities, the social activity is those who are more vulnerable, i have less opportunity to earn dear basic needs. and that creates an even bigger difference between dos who have more of the funds and, and the money from, from the country and those who have less access. so this is creating, increasing this difference in brazil and in many other parts of the world. right, well it's a plenty of lessons to learn from brazil. it seems fabulous. i'll thank you very much for that. thank you. and now it's time for you to ask and for us to answer up his if you a question for our signs correspondent derek williams. oh,

can vaccines and the pandemic? oh no, it's interesting to look on nearly 2 years of reporting on this pandemic and, and realize how much our ways of thinking about some things have changed over that period of time. remember, for instance, when we all more or less thought that if we could just manage to vaccinate 60 to 70 percent of the world, then we'd had heard immunity and, and sars covey to would be conquered and would just sort of magically go away. well, along with vaccine hesitancy in many places, the arrival of new, more highly transmissible variance and waning vaccine induced immunity, of gonna put paid to that idea. experts don't talk about heard immunity much

anymore. and i think that's because it's always been pretty closely associated with the thought that we'd be able to eradicate coven 19. and, and most scientists no longer believed that we'll be able to do that. in fact, most think now that the declaration that the pandemic is finally over when it comes, that it'll be a less of a bang and kind of much more of a whimper. for most experts, the goal has stopped being to wipe out the disease entirely, but instead to manage it as we do others. and that's where vaccines will play a really major role. though the evidence indicates that vaccines don't do as much as we'd like to hinder the transmission of stars covey to or to stop infection with the virus entirely. they do generally prevent the development of severe symptoms

that can lead to hospitalization and death. so, in that sense, vaccines pan and a pandemic? um not by helping us to wipe, outsource, cuz we do completely like the smallpox vaccine wiped out that pathogen. but instead, by protecting enough people well enough that one day we'll be able to live with coven 19 ike. we already live with the flu. hm. and that's it for your covert 19 special. i'm daniel winter from me and the whole team stay healthy. stay safe and see you again soon. ah, finally, learning to read at 60 for her entire life, osley, emily has invested everything into education, the poor,

her 10 children. she herself is illiterate, like many older women in turkey. but honestly, in but i know that learning always pays off. focus on europe. next on d, w into the conflict zone with tim sebastian. at least 27 migrant parish in the english channel. well, this now course europe to commit to say for migration policy, give a huff stop in buffalo member of the european parliament on the former prime minister in belgium. one happened to be used much value, and what performed denuded conflict. in 60 minutes on d w. o

does a war and eternity time . it can be measured precisely. and yet everyone experiences it differently as if there are different forms of time. time. a phenomenon, a dimension. if we know we won't live forever and illusion about time presenting futures past starts december 31st on d. w in hello, in a very warm welcome and a to focus.