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Taiwan’s worst train crash in decades leaves 51 dead, dozens injured

InternationalApr 03. 2021

By The Washington Post · Eva Dou, Alicia Chen, Pei Lin Wu

SEOUL – A train crash in Taiwan killed at least 51 people and injured dozens Friday, authorities said, in the deadliest railway accident in decades on the island.

A construction truck that was improperly parked on a slope rolled down and collided with a passenger train on Friday morning, leaving it derailed in a tunnel on Taiwan’s east coast, according to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency (CNA).

Photos from the scene showed the train tilted inside the tunnel, with pieces of crushed metal surrounding it. Survivors climbed out of the train’s windows to escape.

The tragedy was heightened as Friday was the first day of the Tomb Sweeping Festival, an annual commemoration in Taiwan and some other parts of Asia of family members who have died. Many of Taiwan’s 24 million people were set to travel domestically over the long weekend.

The train had 374 seats but was carrying almost 500 people, with many passengers standing in the crowded cars, Taiwanese officials told local media outlets.

The accident has raised concerns about Taiwan’s transportation safety, after another deadly train crash three years earlier. In 2018, 18 people were killed and 215 injured when a train derailed in northeastern Taiwan.

On Friday, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen ordered an investigation of the cause of the crash and a rapid effort to save the trapped and injured. The last two people trapped were rescued Friday afternoon.

“All relevant units are working all-out in the rescue mission,” she said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang expressed his condolences to the passengers and their families, according to the official Radio Taiwan International.

Wei Yu-Ling, secretary general of the Taiwan Railway Union, said in an interview that she hoped Taiwan’s government would follow through with its call for a thorough investigation. In February, two railway maintenance workers were killed and another was seriously injured when they were hit by a train.

“Compared to the Taipei Metro and the Taiwan High Speed Rail in Taiwan, the Taiwan Railways Administration has a relatively high frequency of accidents,” Wei said.

Friday’s crash took place in Taiwan’s scenic Hualien county on the east coast, one of the island’s most popular areas for tourists. In 2019, before coronavirus pandemic shutdowns began, the nearby Taroko Gorge national park received 4.8 million visitors.

Trains are a popular choice for travel in the region, with the curving mountain roads making for difficult driving.

One taxi driver in the area, Yang Yi-chung, reported on Facebook that a bus had ferried some of the survivors back to Hualien Station. A shellshocked father and son, surnamed Huang, got into his cab, he said.

“Those in the carriages stuck in the tunnel, some broke the windows, some climbed on the roofs, some were covered in blood, some were looking for their relatives,” Yang recalled one of the passengers saying.

Taiwan’s National Fire Agency said Friday evening that 51 people died in the crash and 146 were injured.

The operator of the construction truck that caused the accident was taken to a police station for questioning, according to CNA.

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British politicians vow to oppose use of covid passports

InternationalApr 03. 2021A Covid-19 Vaccination Record Card at a vaccination centre in Cardiff, U.K. Photographer: Ben Birchall/PA Wire/Bloomberg

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Alex Morales

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson risks triggering a major backlash among members of the ruling Conservative Party if his government opts to use so-called covid passports to help reopen the economy.

More than 70 members of Parliament from three parties, including 41 from Johnson’s Tories, pledged to oppose the use of vaccine certificates, calling them “divisive and discriminatory.” They include former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat Party leader Ed Davey.

“We oppose the divisive and discriminatory use of covid status certification to deny individuals access to general services, businesses or jobs,” the pledge reads, according to a statement Friday from civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch. The pledge came as it emerged the government is considering using covid certification as part of trials to reopen large scale events such as sports matches, concerts and conferences.

The opposition from across the political spectrum suggests the premier may struggle to get the measure through Parliament if he pursues it. The government is studying covid certification as a potential means to bolster confidence in returning to restaurants and entertainment venues while also helping to keep coronavirus cases under control.

The Telegraph late Thursday reported that the government is set to trial passports demonstrating a person’s covid status at sporting and cultural events within weeks. But a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that while such a policy is under consideration, no final decision has been taken, pending a review by the Cabinet Office over the feasibility of covid certification.

The person also said that events including soccer’s FA Cup Final, one of the cup semifinals, and the Snooker World Championships will take part in a pilot program in April and May to reopen large-scale events with less social distancing and larger crowds than currently permitted under covid rules. The Brit Awards for music are also under consideration, according to the person, who spoke anonymously about unannounced plans.

The pilot program forms part of the government’s road map for unlocking the economy, and will use “enhanced testing approaches,” according to the government plan published in February.

The Cabinet Office report on certification is due for publication by June 21, though Johnson’s office has indicated interim findings are likely April 5 — the same day the government is due to give an early indication on how foreign travel will reopen, something ministers have said won’t happen before May 17 at the earliest.

“There’s definitely going to be a world in which international travel will use vaccine passports,” Johnson told reporters Thursday during a trip to northeast England. He also said proof of someone’s covid status — whether it’s immunity from having had the disease or an inoculation, or a negative test — could be “useful” in re-opening the domestic economy.

“Those three things working together will be useful for us as we go forward,” he said.

Johnson’s comments contrast with those of Labour leader Keir Starmer, who told the Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday that using covid passports for everyday social activities goes against the British “instinct.”

As the vaccine is rolled out and deaths diminish, “there will be a British sense that we don’t actually want to go down this road,” he said.

Starmer said he would examine any proposals before deciding Labour’s stance. But if the 41 Tories signing Friday’s pledge joined with all opposition MPs to vote against any measures on covid certification, they’d have the numbers to defeat the government.

Labour Member of the House of Lords Shami Chakrabarti called domestic covid passports “an authoritarian step too far.” Influential rank-and-file Conservative Graham Brady said: “We should aim to return to normal life, not to put permanent restrictions in place.”

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Biden administration reverses Trump decision, will provide $1 billion a month more in emergency food assistance

InternationalApr 03. 2021During the pandemic, 50 million Americans have become food insecure. Nationally, SNAP provides help to more than 42 million people each year. MUST CREDIT: Photo by Alyson Aliano for The Washington Post.

By The Washington Post · Laura Reiley

The Biden administration has abandoned the Trump administration’s opposition to emergency nutrition assistance going to the lowest income households already at the maximum benefit levels.

In two lawsuits in Pennsylvania and California, plaintiffs argued that Trump’s agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue misinterpreted a section of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in a way that denied millions of the neediest Americans access to emergency allotments of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the program formerly called food stamps. In Pennsylvania, the suit alleged that the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Trump denied any emergency allotments to nearly 40% of the state’s SNAP households.

Biden’s agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack moved on Thursday for voluntary dismissal of the agency’s appeal in these cases, entering into a settlement that will provide $1 billion per month in additional food assistance to an estimated 25 million people in very low-income American households.

Starting this month, households that had not received at least $95 per month in increased benefits through emergency allotments during the pandemic – because they were already at or close to receiving the current maximum benefit – will now be eligible to receive additional benefits. Benefit levels will remain unchanged for households that have been receiving increased payments of at least $95 per month. States may need a few weeks to update their systems and get the additional benefits to participants, “but it should be smooth sailing from here on out,” said Stacy Dean, deputy undersecretary of the USDA.

“We’ve seen the food insecurity numbers through the Census Pulse data and knew we needed to do everything we could for the truly struggling low-income households,” Dean said.

Biden signed an executive order shortly after taking office in January ordering the agency to reconsider the emergency allotments. Later that month, Vilsack began to focus on the issue.

“The emergency SNAP increases authorized by Congress last year were not being distributed equitably, and the poorest households – who have the least ability to absorb the economic shocks brought about by COVID – received little to no emergency benefit increases,” Vilsack said in a statement on Thursday. “As part of President Biden’s commitment to deliver economic relief and ensure every family can afford to put food on the table, today’s actions will provide much-needed support for those who need it most.”

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act authorized emergency allotments to SNAP households to help address temporary food needs during the pandemic.

Under the Trump administration’s interpretation of the act, if a recipient was already receiving the maximum SNAP benefit, he or she was not eligible for the additional Families First act’s emergency benefit. But Judge John Milton Younge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled in September that the administration was ignoring the intent of the law.

The USDA continued to resist, telling Pennsylvania officials they would not respond to their request for additional benefits and filing a motion for the court to clarify its order.

In October, Younge called out the Trump administration’s USDA for “egregious disobedience” that “flouts this court’s basic authority to preserve order and administer justice.”

USDA settled the Pennsylvania and California lawsuits Thursday afternoon.

Despite a promising rebound in the labor market last month, Vollinger said it is important to compare unemployment now to February 2020, before the pandemic took hold: “The ranks of long-term jobless is significant – they are now 40% of the officially unemployed. That is stunning, and the economic situation they are in is more dire.”

Food insecurity is just one of the problems they face, she says.

“This has been such a welcome development to people who have been frustrated by the lack of the prior administration using all the tools in the toolbox to address the scope of this crisis,” Vollinger said.

Since the start of the pandemic, USDA has issued about $29 billion in additional benefits, to bring all SNAP households up to the maximum benefit for their household size. Among households that received little to no benefit increase because of the Trump administration’s interpretation of the Families First act, about 40% have children, 20% include someone who is elderly and 15% include someone who is disabled.

“We recognize SNAP doesn’t just help boost and stabilize the economy, it has incredibly long-term benefits for health and well-being,” said Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy. “But it is my understanding that this [SNAP expansion] is temporary, until the end of the pandemic. We need to look hard at the program and ask if it was strong enough before the pandemic.”

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Wreckage of long-lost WW II ship, sunken with its Native American skipper and half its crew, identified

InternationalApr 03. 2021Lt. Cmdr. Ernest E. Evans, left of center, speaks at the commissioning ceremonies on fantail of the USS Johnston on Oct. 27, 1943, in Seattle. MUST CREDIT: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command

By The Washington Post · Michael E. Ruane

Near the end, the battered American destroyer USS Johnston was surrounded by Japanese warships closing in to finish her off. The Johnston was ablaze. Scores of sailors lay dead. And after three hours of heroic battle, only one of its guns could return fire.

At 9:45 a.m. on Oct. 25, 1944, the wounded skipper, Cmdr. Ernest Evans, gave the order to abandon ship, and 25 minutes later the Johnston sank off the Philippine island of Samar.

Evans and 185 members of the crew were lost, and he would become the first Native American in the Navy to receive the Medal of Honor.

On Thursday, the Navy and a team of undersea explorers announced that the wreck of the Johnston had been positively identified in 21,180 feet of water. Scattered wreckage had been found at the site in 2019 but could not be positively identified.

But late last month, a manned-submersible operated by Caladan Oceanic, a Dallas undersea exploration company, located the front two-thirds of the ship, sitting upright, along with the bridge, mid section and the identifying hull number, 557.

The submersible, piloted by former Navy Cmdr. Victor Vescovo, also saw two large gun turrets, twin torpedo racks, and multiple gun mounts.

“No human remains or clothing were seen at any point during the dives and nothing was taken from the wreck,” Caladan said in its announcement.

“The wreck of Johnston is a hallowed site,” said retired Rear Adm. Sam Cox, head of the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington.

“It … serves as a sobering reminder for today’s Sailors: after all that’s asked of them in day-to-day service, they … may one day be asked for far more,” he said in the Navy’s announcement.

The Johnston was sunk during a huge naval battle in the Philippine Sea as the United States was liberating the island nation from the Japanese and advancing the bloody drive across the Pacific Theater that would end the war 10 months later.

In late October 1944, a powerful force of Japanese battleships and cruisers managed to catch the Navy off-guard and jump a U.S. fleet of small aircraft carriers off Samar.

The Johnston and other small destroyers assailed the Japanese force as the carriers fled, according to historian Ian W. Toll.

“She was nearer to the enemy than any other American warship and therefore came in for special attention from enemy gunners,” he wrote in his recent book, “Twilight of the Gods.”

Despite the barrage the destroyer charged away.

“I intend to go in harm’s way,” Evans had said when the Johnston was commissioned in 1943. “Anyone who doesn’t want to go along had better get off right now.”

Evans was from Pawnee, Okla. His mother was Cherokee and his father was half White and half Creek Indian. Despite the racism of the era, he was admitted to the Naval Academy and graduated in 1931. He was 36 at the time of the attack, and he had been the Johnston’s only skipper.

As the splashes from enemy shell hit nearby, he steered toward the enemy.

“I can see him now,” Bob Hagen, the ship’s gunnery officer recalled, according to Toll. “Short, barrel-chested, standing on the bridge with his hands on his hips, giving out with a running fire of orders in a bull voice.”

The nimble Johnston zigged and zagged, firing off torpedoes and shells, and ducking into smokescreens. But at 7:25 a.m. the monster Japanese battleship Yamato spotted the destroyer and landed three huge shells.

“It was like a puppy being smacked by a truck,” Hagen remembered.

Evans was knocked down. His shirt had been torn off. His hair was singed, and two of his fingers had been ripped off, Toll wrote. Evans got up, wrapped a handkerchief around his hand and resumed shouting orders.

An hour later, another Japanese battleship, the Kongo, loomed, and the Johnston let loose with its small guns, firing 40 shells. They did little damage. The destroyer escaped, but came upon a crippled American aircraft carrier being pummeled by a Japanese cruiser.

“Commander Evans then gave me the most courageous order I’ve ever heard,” Hagen recalled. “‘Commence firing on that cruiser … draw her fire on us and away from'” the carrier.

It was then that the enemy ships closed in and finished the Johnston off.

“Men were floating on the water’s surface or sinking beneath it,” a Japanese sailor reported. “Half-naked crew members jammed themselves into lifeboats and rowed away … We were close enough to see their unkempt beards and the tattoos on their arms.”

A Japanese gunner opened fire, but was ordered to stop. And as the Johnston went down, a Japanese officer was seen saluting from his ship, Toll wrote.

Of the Johnston’s crew of 327, only 141 survived, the Naval history command says on its website. About 50 “were killed by enemy action, 45 died on rafts from battle injuries and 92, including Evans, were alive in the water after Johnston sank, but were never heard from again.”

The suspected wreck site, the deepest shipwreck ever located, was first discovered in 2019 by the late Paul Allen’s vessel R/V Petrel, Caladan said in its statement. But most of the ship was deeper than the Petrel’s submersible could go.

The Caladan submersible has no depth limitation, the company said.

As the expedition ended, the project’s research vessel came to a stop, sounded its whistle, and a memorial wreath was placed on the ocean, the company said.

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EU to chair meeting of world powers and Iran on U.S. rejoining nuclear deal

InternationalApr 02. 2021

By The Washington Post · Karen DeYoung

World powers will hold a virtual meeting with Iran on Friday to discuss “the prospect of a possible return of the United States” to the Iran nuclear deal, the European Union said.

The six countries still party to the deal since the United States withdrew nearly three years ago – Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran – will attend the EU-chaired meeting, according to a statement by the European body.

The Biden administration welcomed what it called a “positive step,” signaling a possible breakthrough in the months-long stalemate between the United States and Iran over the conditions for a U.S. return to the agreement.

“We have been clear for weeks now that we are ready to pursue a return to compliance with our JCPOA commitments, consistent with Iran also doing the same,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. The agreement is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“We took note of the Europeans’ announcement today as a positive step, especially if it moves the ball forward,” he said.

President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 accord, which he consistently criticized as a “bad deal.” He reimposed harsh economic sanctions on Iran that had been lifted as part of the agreement, and added more than a thousand new measures. In response, Iran eventually began enriching uranium to levels that the deal had prohibited.

The United States charged, and Iran denied, that its goal was to construct a nuclear weapon.

President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to rejoin the accord, saying that it had successfully constrained Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The administration now estimates that Iran’s “breakout time” – the amount of time needed to produce enough fissile material for one nuclear device – has been reduced from more than a year, under the agreement, to only a few months.

But attempts earlier this year to negotiate a U.S. return to the accord repeatedly faltered as the United States and Iran each insisted the other take the first steps. The administration said it would lift Trump-imposed sanctions if Iran returned to compliance with limits on uranium enrichment and full international monitoring. Iran, noting that it was the United States that quit the accord, said it would return to the terms of the deal once the sanctions were removed.

The Iranians also have said they had no interest in Biden-proposed “follow-on” talks about Iran’s ballistic missile program, proxy wars in the region and alleged terrorism sponsorship.

Both the United States and Iran have to deal with domestic political pressures for and against agreement. Iran is gearing up for elections in June that will center in large part on the nuclear deal.

Iran rejected an EU proposal in late February to gather the original parties to the agreement – including the United States – saying that it first wanted a clear-cut agenda.

Since then, the administration has made clear that it would participate in “indirect” talks, through the Europeans. Britain, France and Germany, which maintain embassies in Tehran, have served as conduits as the two sides proposed sequential, simultaneous steps to bring them into mutual compliance.

“Working closely with our [European] partners as well as Moscow and Beijing, we are determined to find a diplomatic solution that allows Iran to resume respect for its nuclear commitments and the United States to return to the agreement as swiftly as possible. We are engaged in ongoing discussions with Washington and Tehran in that regard,” French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said Thursday.

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Indian states fight each other for jobs with laws to hire local

InternationalApr 02. 2021A man sits outside shuttered stores in New Delhi on Aug. 31, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Anindito Mukherjee.

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Bibhudatta Pradhan

A short drive from the capital of New Delhi, Gurugram has become one of India’s wealthiest cities with business-friendly policies that have attracted multinationals such as Alphabet’s Google, PepsiCo and Nestle India. But suddenly that reputation is at risk.

A slowing economy and a dearth of new jobs has prompted northern Haryana state, where Gurugram is located, to implement a new law last month that limits private companies from hiring workers from other states. Passed by a government controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, such laws are quickly becoming popular with other states.

The law in Haryana has raised concerns among foreign business groups and prompted them to look elsewhere. One Korean logistics company that recently shifted operations to Gurugram is now drawing up alternate plans because its skilled workforce doesn’t meet requirements under the new law.

“The current restriction is something opposite of ease of doing business,” said Hee Chul Jung, secretary-general of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India. “The new regulation could scare future investors away that favor flexibility and a dynamic business environment.”

Millions of jobs were lost during last year’s nationwide lockdown, dealing a blow to Modi’s promise of generating adequate employment for the world’s youngest and biggest workforce as the economy suffered its worst contraction since 1952. Now more states are forcing companies to hire local, setting up internal trade barriers that could further hinder growth in Asia’s third-biggest economy.

The southern state of Andhra Pradesh led the way in 2019 with a step for reserving jobs for locals in factories. The mines-rich state of Jharkhand then approved a similar policy last month, while a top regional party in Tamil Nadu has also promised a job-protection plan if wins upcoming elections.

The law in Haryana took effect last month. It provides a 75% quota for job seekers from the northern state for posts in private companies with a monthly salary of less than $683 (50,000 rupees).

“This cure is worse than the disease itself,” said Ravi S. Srivastava, professor and director of the Centre for Employment Studies, Institute for Human Development. “They are doing this for short-term political appeal. This is easier than creating proper infrastructure and an environment for more jobs.”

Unlike Singapore’s move to offer incentives to companies that hire local workers, the laws in Haryana and other Indian states force businesses to comply. Rather than strong-arming investors, the government should skill people so they can be recruited easily, said Himanshu Baid, chairman of the medical technology division at the Confederation of Indian Industry. “Industries need the best human resources from where ever they are available in the country,” he said.

Dushyant Chautala, Haryana’s deputy chief minister, defended the move during a press briefing in March, saying it would bring jobs to young people and strengthen industries. He couldn’t be reached for comment through several phone calls to his office and residence.

While the laws are ostensibly aimed at helping young workers, labor rights advocates have warned they aren’t compliant with constitutional guarantees including freedom of movement, a right to livelihood, and no discrimination based on place of birth.

“The way the Haryana law stands, it looks excessive and of an excluding nature,” said Tanima Kishore, an advocate in the Supreme Court of India, who has worked on labor rights. “It can be challenged on the ground that it violates people’s constitutional right to carry on any occupation or trade in any part of the country.”

Apart from possible legal flaws, the law risks pushing away companies that have helped make Gurugram attractive. The city is a hub for offshore back-office operations and needs a workforce highly proficient in the English language, a skill that may not be easily available in any one state.

“It is a slippery slope,” said Jean Dreze, a visiting professor with Ranchi University in eastern India. “If many states emulate these policies there is a risk of adverse effects on employment opportunities for large numbers of disadvantaged workers.”

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2 entrepreneurs urge Brazil to let them buy doses to aid vaccination effort

InternationalApr 02. 2021Patients wait in line to receive a dose of the Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s CoronaVac coronavirus vaccine at a clinic in Rio de Janeiro on March 31, 2021. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Andre Coelho

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Felipe Marques, Martha Beck

In the global race for coronavirus vaccines, Brazil is limping behind. Less than 10% of the population has received its first shot while the pandemic rages unchecked, killing more than 3,500 people a day.

The man behind Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands in the country thinks he can do better. Carlos Wizard Martins is leading a group of business executives who want to buy coronavirus vaccines themselves, donating shots to the government while also immunizing their employees. Martins said he offered last week to deliver as many as 10 million shots to the nation, but has yet to hear back from the government.

“The sluggishness of Brazil’s public sector is deeply troubling because while they study our proposal, people are dying,” he said in a video interview.

Martins and Luciano Hang, the firebrand billionaire owner of department store chain Havan, went on a marathon of meetings with government officials last week. They also lobbied for a change in a recently approved law that requires any vaccines bought by the private sector to be donated to Brazil’s public health system, known as SUS, until 78 million people in priority groups have been immunized.

Martins called the law “useless” to both companies and the country as it only delays immunizations.

“Brazil’s situation is only going to get worse,” Martins said. “Soon, we will have 5,000 dead a day and it’s all because of governmental inefficiency.”

In an emailed response to questions, the health ministry confirmed a meeting with Martins and said Minister Marcelo Queiroga supports the private sector’s push to acquire vaccines as determined by laws. It declined to comment on specifics of the offer.

Though Martins criticized the public sector’s red tape, he stopped short of naming President Jair Bolsonaro as a culprit. In fact, Martins was briefly named an aide at the health ministry last year, only to withdraw a few days later after coming under fire for suggesting Brazil should recount its covid deaths.

Martins declined to say whether he still supports the president, who’s been harshly criticized for his handling of the crisis. The businessman says Brazil’s response has always been haunted by the “ghost of ideology.”

Martins, 64, made his fortune by creating a network of 2,600 franchised language schools in Brazil, a business he sold to Pearson Plc for about $570 million in 2013. Born in the southern city of Curitiba to a seamstress and a truck driver, he learned to speak English through the local chapter of the Mormon Church. Later, he taught the language as a side job, which evolved into his Wizard schools.

Now, his main activity is franchising some of the U.S. most iconic fast-food brands in Brazil, including Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, businesses that suffered a heavy blow from the pandemic. The brands’ 360 stores are “currently operating at loss,” Martins said. He also owns Mundo Verde, a chain of health supplement stores, and a stake in another language school venture, Wiser Educacao, both of which are faring better during the crisis despite the government’s “very weak” support to companies.

Martins’s businesses have a total of 50,000 employees, he said. They would be first in line for a shot if he has his way. He estimates Brazil will take four to five months to immunize risk groups. After that, under the current law, companies can keep as many as half the shots they buy, donating the rest to SUS.

The government has been under pressure to speed up vaccinations, as the nation registered more than 321,500 dead from the virus. So far, Brazil has administered 22.6 million doses, according to data collected by Bloomberg. That’s enough to give one shot to 8.4% of the 212 million population, and fully immunize just 2.4%. At the same time, the nation is leading the world in new cases of the disease and this week notched back-to-back daily records of over 3,700 deaths.

Martins wants the legislation changed so he can start vaccinating his employees right away, donating the same number of doses he uses to the government. He says other companies, such as Carrefour SA’s Brazil unit, signaled interest as well.

Carrefour is “looking into possibilities, but there’s nothing concrete,” the company said in an emailed statement.

Even if Martins pulls off the regulatory changes he’s hoping for, getting 10 million shots to Brazil seems like a tall order at a time governments around the world are scrambling for vaccines. No purchase agreements have been signed, he said, adding he’s hoping to pay $5 to $10 per dose. He declined to specify which vaccines the group is looking to buy.

Alan Eccel, who owns foreign-commerce consultancy NDI and worked with Hang in the past, is behind securing the shots. Negotiations include only vaccines approved by local regulators and still require authorization from several branches of the government, he said, adding he’s talking to either the laboratories themselves or local representatives in hopes to gain access to any surplus doses they might have.

On Wednesday, health regulator Anvisa cleared Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine for emergency use in the country. It had already authorized shots from Sinovac Biotech Ltd, Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc.

Martins is confident he can deliver the shots if the government does its part.

“In Brazil, the education, the economy, the sports are all paralyzed. Even churches are paralyzed. We can’t accept spending 2021 as hostages of the pandemic,” he said.