Brazil reports 506 COVID deaths in 24 hours as vaccination advances

Brazil had 18,578 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours and 506 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

The South American country has now registered 21,445,651 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 597,255, according to ministry data, in the world's second-deadliest outbreak outside the United States.

With 40% of Brazilians now fully vaccinated, the rolling seven-day average of COVID deaths has fallen to one third of the toll of almost 3,000 a day at the peak of the pandemic in April.