Jair Bolsonaro
Photographer: Andre Borges / Bloomberg
Photographer: Andre Borges / Bloomberg
Brazil accelerated plans to vaccinate its population against coronavirus after an early state of the state of Sao Paulo added pressure on President Jair Bolsonaro to move faster to curb an incipient loss of popularity.
The government on Monday began distributing 6 million doses of a shot produced by China Sinovac Biotech Ltd, in collaboration with the Butantan Institute of Sao Paulo, in all 27 states, is giving the green light for vaccinations to begin immediately, according to an official statement. Less than 24 hours earlier, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello had said the national campaign would begin on Wednesday.
Pressure on the Brazilian president and his health minister rose sharply when Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria held a ceremony on Sunday to administer the first dose of the so-called CoronaVac fire, just minutes after the country’s health regulator country approved its emergency use. The image of an inoculated black nurse was transmitted through the Brazilian media and became a political victory for Doria, one of Bolsonaro’s main political opponents.
A health worker administers a dose of the Sinovac Biotech Ltd. coronavirus vaccine. at the University of Sao Paulo hospital on Sunday
“Bolsonaro is losing the support of his supporters,” said Marcio Coimbra, a political scientist who leads the Interlegis think tank in Brasilia. “Emergency aid was the main driver of its popularity, while the pandemic and vaccines have been a problem.”
Bolsonaro’s popularity fell 6 percentage points to 32% in January, a month after its cash distribution program for informal workers expired, according to an XP / Ipespe survey that surveyed 1,000 people between 11 and on January 14th. Half of the respondents wanted the government to come up with a similar emergency program for a few more months. It is the first time since May that its popularity has been successful, the interviewer said.
Read more: Oxygen shortage causes curfew in Brazil’s Amazon capital
The president, who has repeatedly questioned the security of the shootings against a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Brazilians, has been under increasing political stress as national inoculation plans are delayed by those of key regional partners. and Covid-19 cases are spiraling back across the country. To complicate matters, submissions of The strengthening of AstraZeneca Plc, the federal government’s main bet to maintain a massive campaign, has been delayed amid difficult negotiations with India, where part of the shootings are taking place.
Without its easily available main card, the health ministry decided to continue with CoronaVac, a vaccine sponsored by Doria and repeatedly criticized by Bolsonaro “for its origin.” The collapse of the health care system in the state capital of the Amazon, where hospitals ran out of oxygen to treat patients, contributed to a renewed sense of urgency. In response to the crisis, oxygen-laden trucks donated by Nicolas Maduro’s government to Venezuela crossed the border into Brazil on Monday, according to the G1 website.
Several state governors, who have called for a more forceful response from the health ministry, celebrated the start of the inoculation campaign on social media by posting photos and videos of vaccine shipments shipped to Brazilian Air Force planes. In Rio de Janeiro, Mayor Eduardo Paes organized a ceremony at the foot of the statue of Christ the Redeemer to mark the date.
However, not all states received immediate fire, with Pazuello attributing some delays to logistical challenges.
With the distribution of CoronaVac across the country, Doria achieves a political victory that strengthens its position as a possible candidate in the 2022 presidential election, Coimbra said, warning that other names will likely appear along the way.
– With the assistance of Isadora Sanches and Marisa Wanzeller
(Updates with details on Manaus in the seventh paragraph, delays in the second paragraph. An earlier version of this story was corrected to say that Bolsonaro’s popularity fell 6 percentage points, not the base points.)