Brazil's COVID-19 death toll surpasses 231,000

Brazil registered 978 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the death toll to 231,012, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.

Additionally, another 50,630 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, taking the nationwide tally to 9,497,795.

Sao Paulo, the most populous and the hardest-hit state in the country, has reported 1,845,086 cases and 54,545 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 537,824 cases and 30,596 deaths.

Brazil began its national vaccination program in mid-January and has immunized more than 3.3 million people so far.

At the moment, the vaccines available in Brazil are those made by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )