Brazil has become the second country in the world to record more than half a million coronavirus deaths.
The biggest country in Latin America has so far recorded 500,800 deaths related to Covid-19, the Health Ministry in Brasilia said Saturday.
So far, only the United States has registered a higher number of pandemic deaths, with almost 602,000.
More than 17.8 million people in Brazil have been infected with coronavirus and currently some 80,000 new cases are being recorded every day.
Around 30 per cent of Brazilians have had a first vaccine dose so far, with around 11 per cent fully vaccinated.
The government of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic from the beginning and resisted tough restrictions, citing the economic consequences.
Most recently, Bolsonaro has also questioned the sense of vaccination.
Meanwhile, a parliamentary committee is probing the Brazilian leader's crisis management during the pandemic.
On Saturday, there were protests against Bolsonaro's coronavirus policy in numerous cities in Brazil.
Source: DPA
