Covid-19: Carnaval 2022 is canceled in many São Paulo state countryside cities

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least 70 cities in the interior of the state of São Paulo have canceled Carnaval 2022, which is scheduled to take place between February 19 and March 6. Even with the majority of the population with the complete vaccination cycle against Covid-19, the cities want to avoid crowds and “not take risks” in order not to return to high contamination levels.

In Franca, Mayor Alexandre Ferreira (MDB) announced on Monday, 22, that there would be no events promoted by the city government during next year’s carnival. “We went through the worst phase of the pandemic this year. We all suffered a lot, we lost many people […] After so much suffering, so much anguish, pain, and effort, we can no longer take risks,” said the mayor.

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To justify the cancellation of the party in Cunha, a favored tourist destination, the mayor says that, besides the possibility of a new wave of contamination, he wants to respect the mourning of those who lost family members to Covid-19. The same argument is also used by Monteiro Lobato’s City Hall.

The São Bento do Sapucaí City Hall says it has considered the difficulty in controlling and maintaining sanitary protocols with the presence of tourists and residents.

In Santo Antônio do Pinhal, the city government canceled the event even though there have been days without reported cases of Covid-19. “The Carnaval, we will have the next opportunity, maybe in the second semester, if everything goes well. Just as other cities also put this situation, we will be able to have an off-season Carnaval,” said the mayor Anderson José Mendonça (PSDB) to the Pinhal FM radio station.

Despite the decisions, the city of São Paulo has not yet defined the future of the street carnival. According to the mayor of the capital, Ricardo Nunes, the approval depends on the Health agencies that evaluate the epidemiological scenario of the pandemic. On November 5, the city hall reported that it received 867 registrations of blocks for street parades between February 19 and March 6.

According to data gathered by the consortium, the number of people vaccinated with at least one dose against Covid-19 in Brazil reached on Monday, November 22, 158,049,247, equivalent to 74.09% of the total population press vehicles from the secretariats of 26 States and the Federal District.

Among the more than 158 million people vaccinated, 129.7 million received the second dose, representing 60.8% of the population with complete immunization against the new coronavirus. In the last 24 hours, 575,013 people received this booster dose. Adding up the first and second dose vaccines and the third booster (294,031), Brazil administered 1,039,841 doses on Monday.

In proportional terms, São Paulo is the state that has vaccinated the most of its population so far: 81.25% of the inhabitants have received at least the first dose.

Below is the list of some of the municipalities that have already canceled the 2022 Carnival:

• Barrinha
• Borborema
• Botucatu
• Cabreúva
• Campo Limpo Paulista
• Cunha
• Dobrada
• Dumont
• Franca
• Guariba
• Guatapará
• Ibitinga
• Itápolis
• Itatiba
• Itupeva
• Jaboticabal
• Jarinu
• Jundiaí
• Lins
• Marília
• Mogi das Cruzes
• Mogi das Cruzes
• Monte Alto
• Monteiro Lobato
• Natividade da Serra
• Paraibuna
• Pitangueiras
• Poá
• Potirendaba
• Pradópolis
• Roseira
• Salesópolis
• Santa Ernestina
• Santa Isabel
• Santo Antônio do Pinhal
• São Bento do Sapucaí
• São Simão
• Sorocaba
• Suzano
• Taquaritinga
• Taubaté
• Ubatuba
• Várzea Paulista