RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil surpassed the grim landmark of more than 600,000 Covid-19 deaths this week, making its death toll second only to the United States.
The country’s official tally of fatalities reached 600,493 late on Friday, more than a year and a half after the beginning of the pandemic in Brazil, according to a consortium of major media companies that have been collecting data from local governments. The United States has recorded 712,822 deaths, according to a New York Times database.
Brazil’s vaccination campaign appears to have slowed the progress of the coronavirus, experts said. It took only