Prostitutes go on strike for a week to demand they are among 'front line' workers getting priority Covid-19 vaccines in Brazil
- Sex workers in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte demonstrated on Monday
- Pandemic-related hotel closures have forced thousands to solicit clients on the street, they say
- They are calling for the government to recognise them as front line workers, saying they are at heightened risk of catching coronavirus
- Brazil's government has prioritised health workers, teachers, the elderly, indigenous people and people with underlying health conditions for vaccines
- The Sex workers said they should be considered among health workers because they provide health information to clients and colleagues
PUBLISHED: 08:58 BST, 7 April 2021 | UPDATED: 23:57 BST, 7 April 2021
Sex workers in a Brazilian city have gone on strike for a week, demanding to be included in the group of front-line workers receiving priority coronavirus vaccines.
Pandemic-related hotel closures in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte have forced thousands of prostitutes to solicit for clients on the street, they say.
'We are in the front line, moving the economy and we are at risk,' Cida Vieira, president of the Association of Prostitutes of Mins Gerais state, told AFP news agency.
'We need to get vaccinated.'
Sex workers in a Brazilian city have gone on strike for a week, demanding to be included in the group of front-line workers receiving priority coronavirus vaccine. Pictured: Women hold signs saying: 'Health ministry please include us sex workers as a priority vaccine group' and 'Sex workers are a priority group'
Pandemic-related hotel closures in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte have forced thousands of prostitutes to solicit for clients on the street, they say. Pictured: Sex workers protesting in Belo Horizonte on Monday
Vieira and other women held a protest on Monday in a street lined with shuttered hotels where they used to work, waving placards bearing messages like 'Sex workers are health professionals too' and 'Sex workers are a priority group.'
'We are part of the priority group because we deal with various types of people and our lives are at risk, said Lucimara Costa, one of the sex workers protesting.
'We are a priority group, we are health educators, peer educators. We form part of that group, since we give information about STIs for men, distribute condoms...' said Vieira.
Brazil: Sex workers protest to get coronavirus vaccinations
The Brazilian government has prioritised health workers, teachers, the elderly, indigenous people and people with underlying health conditions for the first round of vaccinations. Pictured: A sex worker holds a sign saying: 'Sex workers are health professionals too' during a protest
The Brazilian government has prioritised health workers, teachers, the elderly, indigenous people and people with underlying health conditions for the first round of vaccinations.
It hopes to vaccinate these priority groups, some 77million people, in the first half of 2021, but experts say the process may drag into September due to a shortage of doses.
Like the rest of Brazil, Minas Gerais state has been battling a second pandemic wave, but the number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, at 121, is among the lowest in the country.
The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed more than 332,000 lives in Brazil, a toll second only to the United States.
On Tuesday, Brazil recorded 86,979 new cases. For the first time, more than 4,000 deaths were recorded in a single day with 4,195 reported.
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