Brazil's famed carnival stage now COVID-19 vaccine site

Rio de Janeiro city hall opened a drive-thru COVID-19 immunization point on Saturday at the famous Sambodrome, where vibrant carnivals used to the take place.

Normally Rio's Sambadrome would be preparing for its gregarious annual carnival that sees thousands fill its grandstands.

"This is usually a place of pleasure. Today it is also because we are exercising an act of citizenship and we are opening the Sambadrome to vaccinate," Paulo Roberto Machado, 68, a nurse and professor at the Veiga de Almeida University, told The Associated Press.

The mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, decided to officially suspend the celebration of carnival and indicated that the city council will have zero tolerance for those who, ignoring the rules, try to celebrate the party in privately organised street parades and clandestine parties.

Despite lacking the convivial atmosphere of a carnival, the vaccination process still managed to bring joy to some.

Wilma Ferreira Neves, a 91-year-old woman who received her vaccination on Saturday, cried after she received the jab.

"I've waited for so long for this moment, for everybody, not only for me, for all humanity," said Neves through tears.

All 33 regions of Rio de Janeiro state have been classified as "high risk" for the COVID-19 infection, and its capital, the city of Rio, has surpassed the death toll of Sao Paulo, which has almost twice as many inhabitants.

Rio de Janeiro has recorded more than 17,600 deaths since the start of the pandemic last year, the highest of any city in Brazil.