SAO PAULO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Mass vaccination against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) will help drive sustained economic recovery in Brazil, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said Friday.

"Vaccination is undoubtedly the most important chapter in the fight against the pandemic to sustain the economic recovery, based on investment and consumption," Guedes said at a press conference.

Safely resuming economic activities and returning to workplaces will boost economic growth, he said, as will Brazil's planned privatizations of state-owned companies in 2021.

The Brazilian government aims to privatize the electricity company Eletrobras, the postal service Correos, the Port of Santos and oil firm Presal Petroleo S.A.

The Ministry of Health as of Thursday registered 7,110,434 cases of COVID-19 and 184,827 deaths from the disease.