As the catastrophe in Manaus unfolded, we sent teams to provide support and training to understaffed and undersupplied facilities that had originally provided basic care. These facilities were now being converted into intensive care units overnight, in order to cover the spiraling demand for more complex medical attention. Mental health professionals arrived to assist staff who were physically and mentally overwhelmed, dealing each day with heavy losses. The disaster was compounded by a lack of coordination by the federal government. That also had a negative impact on vaccination, which had a slow start in January after federal officials initially questioned the efficacy and safety of vaccines and delayed the acquisition of doses. In addition, some authorities even promoted ineffective medicines and shunned infection prevention and control measures, such as the use of masks and practicing physical distancing. Some patients we treated had the illusion that they were ‘protected’ by these medicines and exposed themselves to contamination, exacerbating the spread of the disease.
The result was that, by the end of 2021, Brazil reached the staggering figure of 620,000 recorded COVID-19 deaths, many of which could have been avoided; it is one of the few countries in the world with a universal public health system which had performed well in managing previous health crises.