While Brazilians wait for a vaccine, Bolsonaro does politics

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In an early Christmas gift to some, Chile and Mexico began vaccinations Thursday after granting emergency approval for the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. But in Brazil, where the death toll from Covid-19 is much higher, inoculation to save lives could be out of reach for months; the country’s Ministry of Health announced last week that vaccinations would begin in February 2021.

Because Brazil has a strong national vaccination history, he says there was a widespread expectation that Brazilians would have a regional advantage in the battle against the pandemic.

“Brazil has always been the leader in the implementation of new vaccines. We achieve high vaccine coverage, although it is a continental country with very different regions, such as São Paulo with a high population density and the Amazon, with huge distances. , (i) an indigenous population, ”he said.

“People expected the Brazilian vaccination program to start sooner,” he said. But “other countries in the Americas that were preparing are already starting vaccination and Brazil has lagged behind.”

Every day the virus sinks uncontrollably in Brazil it costs lethally. Nearly 190,000 people have been killed by Covid-19, the highest number of deaths reported worldwide after the United States. Still, President Jair Bolsonaro has publicly guessed the urgency of the vaccination, belittling “the rush for a vaccine.”
“The pandemic is really coming to an end, the figures have shown it, now we are facing small rises,” he said on Saturday, according to CNN Brazil. “But the rush for the vaccine is not justified for you to play with people’s lives.”

With more than 7.4 million people diagnosed with Covid-19 in Brazil and new variants of the virus appearing abroad, there is little reason to think the pandemic is shrinking, a statement Bolsonaro repeatedly made this year. year, even as cases continued to rise in the country. Only the United States and India have reported more coronavirus infections than Brazil.

The Brazilian president also made headlines last week with an extravagant attempt to sow doubts about the possible side effects of the Pfizer vaccine. “If you become an alligator, that’s your problem,” he warned. “If she becomes Superman, or she shaves like a woman, or if a man’s voice gets high, I have nothing to do with it … or, worse, it interferes with people’s immune systems.” .

Pfizer did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Domingues believes the Brazilian federal government was not seen ready to use the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, after giving its support to a vaccine candidate from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, who have partnered with the foundation local Fiocruz. According to a statement released last week by the Ministry of Health, Brazil agreed to purchase more than 100 million doses of this vaccine, which is still under development.

In 2021, the Bolsonaro government will also receive nearly 43 million doses of vaccine through the COVAX center and has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire 70 million doses of Pfizer and another 38 million from the Johnson and Johnson subsidiary, Janssen. However, most doses of these last two vaccines are not expected to be available until the end of the year, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.
Initially, says Domingues, “the Ministry of Health tried to be prudent and only agreed to purchase the vaccine with the AstraZeneca laboratory and was not prepared to receive the new vaccines that require storage below 70 (degrees Celsius).” The Pfizer vaccine should be stored at extremely cold temperatures, around minus 75 degrees Celsius, which is about 50 degrees colder than any vaccine used in the United States before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, fears persist about the influence of politics in the process, after a year of bitter clashes between Bolsonaro and state governors over the country’s pandemic response.

The president has made no secret of his preference for the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine over the vaccine developed by Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech, which is supported by the state of Sao Paulo and is developed locally with the Brazilian laboratory Butantan Institute.

Contrary to assurances from Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello and other officials that any vaccine approved by health regulators will be well received by the federal government, Bolsonaro has promised on Facebook not to buy the vaccine made in China. and its political proponents have worked to ignite xenophobia. and fear around him.
No vaccine has yet been approved by Brazilian health regulator ANVISA, which is under pressure from the country’s Supreme Court and congressional leaders to take action. Domingues says he is confident that the agency’s experts and officials “will not accept political interference” from any quarter as they evaluate the science and safety of each candidate.
However, ordinary Brazilians may not be as immune to influence, especially when they emanate from the highest levels of government. As in many countries, an anti-vaxxer movement has been growing in Brazil for years. And in addition to casting doubt on some vaccines and ruling out the severity of the virus, Bolsonaro has offered fuel to anti-cowboys promising to personally refuse vaccination because he has already had Covid-19, although there is evidence that reinfection, though rare, it is, it is possible.

ANVISA and the Brazilian Ministry of Health did not respond to requests for comment.

Reports provided by Tatiana Arias, Jennifer Z. Deaton, Natalie Gallon and Stefano Pozzebon.

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