Brazil has granted emergency approval to Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, the fourth vaccine to get regulatory approval in the pandemic-ravaged country.

Federal health regulator Anvisa said its board had unanimously approved the vaccine for use on priority groups such as health providers and the elderly, AFP reported.

Brazil had already signed a deal with the US pharmaceutical giant two weeks ago for 38 million doses of the vaccine, but they will only start arriving in August.

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The South American country is struggling to secure enough vaccine doses to immunize its 212 million people, even as a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases have pushed its hospitals to the breaking point.

Brazil also has a deal with Pfizer for 100 million vaccine doses, due to start arriving between April and May.

Brazil is currently applying two vaccines, Oxford/AstraZeneca’s and Chinese-developed CoronaVac, both of which require two doses.

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With just 8% of the population having received a first dose and 2.3% a second, the country is far off pace to meet the health ministry’s goal of immunizing all adults by the end of the year.

That has fueled criticism of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has downplayed the new coronavirus, refused to purchase various vaccines and said he does not plan to be vaccinated himself.

COVID-19 has claimed more than 317,000 lives in Brazil, second only to the United States, and only shows signs of intensifying until enough vaccines arrive.

Brazil’s average daily death toll has nearly quadrupled since the start of the year, to 2,710 this week, the highest by far worldwide.