Brazil suspends syringe purchase effort as vaccination lags
(World News Brazil)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil`s President Jair Bolsonaro said Wednesday his administration is suspending an effort to buy hundreds of millions of syringes just as the country is preparing to launch a nationwide vaccination campaign against COVID-19. Bolsonaro said on his social media channels that prices for syringes have soared, so, “The Health Ministry has suspended the purchase until prices return to normal.” He also said states and municipalities possess enough stock to handle the first stage of the forthcoming immunization campaign “because the amount of vaccines at first is not big.” The government posted its tender for 331 million syringes on Dec. 16, but received bids for only 8...