Brazilian leader wraps doubts over COVID-19 vaccine

SAO PAULO (AP)—Brazilian President Jail Bolsonaro’s critics disagree with his view that vaccination against the virus is not mandatory in opposition to the leader’s stance against the coronavirus pandemic. ..

When Bolsonaro’s first such comment came on Monday, when he told his supporters, “No one can force anyone to get the vaccine.” He said on Facebook on Thursday night He repeated it during live broadcasts, adding his opposition to administering an as yet unproven vaccine on Brazilian soil.

“It has been proven in other countries, but not here in Brazil,” he said without identifying the potential vaccines mentioned. “We are irresponsible and cannot put vaccines in people’s bodies. As I said, no one can mandate vaccination.”

The comment was quickly criticized by a social media opponent.

Former Bolsonaro ally Governor Joao Doria of the state of Sao Paulo said in an interview with the Associated Press on Friday that vaccination cannot be considered a personal decision. With 46 million inhabitants, São Paulo is the epicenter of a pandemic in Brazil with more than 30,000 deaths from COVID-19, accounting for about a quarter of the country’s deaths from the disease.

“It’s sad that the Brazilian president once again sets an example for Denialists,” Doria said in a video call. “It should be mandatory, except in special cases or under health conditions that justify not taking the vaccine. Infected people can infect others and allow others to die.”

In a statement, the Brazilian Labor Party, an opponent of Bolsonaro and Doria, said in a statement that the President’s efforts to create air of doubt about future vaccines “ignore the importance of vaccination to protect the health of the entire nation. “

A national health council, a branch of Bolsonaro’s own Ministry of Health, said in a statement that the government should not talk about non-obligatory vaccination against COVID-19.

“The right to individual liberty is not absolute, above collective happiness,” the council said.

Since the beginning of the crisis, Bolsonaro has opposed blockades and other widespread restrictions on activities imposed by the governor on the recommendation of health experts. The president called COVID-19 a “little bit of flu,” and warned that shutting down the economy would cause more trouble for the millions of people in the mouth.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health has confirmed more than 4 million cases and 125,000 deaths to date. Both numbers are only for the United States, according to aggregates recorded by Johns Hopkins University.

Brazil has a very high case load, with a large and dispersed population of 210 million people, so several vaccine developers have chosen the country to conduct human trials of their products.

The federal government of Bolsonaro made the first agreement with AstraZeneca, which gave the vaccine 30 million doses, which could total up to 100 million.

Meanwhile, the State of São Paulo has signed a 60 million shots deal with Sinovac, a Chinese vaccine developer, if proven successful. However, supporters of Bolsonaro often refer to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” and refuse to cooperate with Chinese companies.

Doria said Bolsonaro’s skepticism about foreign vaccines was wrong.

“One vaccine cannot immunize the whole Brazilian population. We need two, three, and sometimes four, that are produced on a large scale,” the governor said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s China, Russia, France, the United States, or the United Kingdom, as long as it’s been proven to be efficient. The important thing is that it saves lives.”

A recent poll by the Ipsos Institute in 27 countries released Wednesday said 88% of Brazilians surveyed will be vaccinated against COVID-19 if a vaccine is available.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health expects vaccine distribution to begin in the first few months of 2021.

Max Igor Lopez, an infectious disease specialist at Sas Paulo Hospital Das Clinicas, believes that the debate over forced vaccination is useless.

“The point is that people understand that vaccination benefits them,” he said. “And this is the purpose of the vaccine.”

Copyright © 2020 Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

×

Photo