Brasilia, May 1 (IANS): All Brazilians can be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of the year, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga has said.

"We have enough doses for the second half (of the year) and it is possible to guarantee that by the end of 2021 our entire population will be vaccinated," Queiroga said on Friday during a press conference held jointly with the World Health Organization (WHO), Xinhua reported.

Brazil expects to have 500 million vaccine doses available by the year end, said Queiroga. Nevertheless, he again called on countries with surplus doses to donate them to Brazil.

"We reiterate our call to those who have extra doses of the vaccine to share them with Brazil, and we can contain the critical phase of the pandemic and prevent the proliferation of new variants of the virus," said the minister.

Brazil opted for a diversified strategy to fight the pandemic, from partnering with other countries to promote technology transfer and national production of a vaccine, to signing contracts with pharmaceutical companies to supply vaccines, and participating in the United Nations-backed COVAX mechanism to access vaccines, said Queiroga.

However, the South American giant needs to speed up its immunization campaign due to the worsening outbreak, he said.

So far, 57.9 million doses have been distributed throughout Brazil, of which 42.1 million doses have been applied.

Brazil has registered over 14.59 million cases of Covid-19 and more than 400,000 deaths from the disease.