While Brazilians wait for a vaccine, Bolsonaro plays politics

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As an early Christmas present for some, Chile and Mexico began immunizations on Thursday after emergency approval was granted for the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. But in Brazil, where the death toll in Covid-19 is much higher, life-saving inoculation could be within months – the country’s health ministry announced last week that vaccinations would begin in February 2021.

Because Brazil has a strong national vaccination history, she says there is a widespread expectation that Brazilians will have a regional advantage in fighting the pandemic.

“Brazil has always been the leader in the implementation of new vaccines. We are able to achieve high vaccine coverage, even if it is a continental country with very different regions, such as São Paulo with a high population density and Amazonas with huge distances, ( and) an indigenous population, “she said.

“People expected the Brazilian vaccination program to start earlier,” she said. But “other countries in America that have already prepared are starting vaccination, and Brazil is lagging behind.”

Every day, the virus unleashes uncontrollably in Brazil is lethally expensive. Nearly 190,000 people have been killed by Covid-19 – the highest number of deaths reported worldwide after the United States. However, President Jair Bolsonaro publicly guessed the urgency of the immunization, denigrating the “rush for a vaccine”.
“The pandemic is really coming to an end, the figures have shown this, we are dealing with small increases now,” he said on Saturday, according to CNN Brasil. “But the rush for the vaccine is not justified because you are playing 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 believe the pandemic is diminishing – a statement Bolsonaro has repeatedly made. this year, even as cases continued to grow. in the country. Only the US and India have reported more coronavirus infections than Brazil.

The Brazilian president also made headlines last week, with a bizarre attempt to sow doubts about the potential side effects of the Pfizer vaccine. “If you become an alligator, this is your problem,” he warned. “If you become Superman or you think your beard as a woman or a man’s voice gets strong, I have nothing to do with it … or, worse, you interfere with people’s immune systems.”

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

Domingues believes that the Brazilian federal government was caught unprepared to use the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine after casting support for a vaccine candidate from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, who collaborated with the local Fiocruz foundation. According to a statement released last week by the Ministry of Health, Brazil has agreed to purchase more than 100 million doses of that vaccine, which remains under development.

In 2021, the Bolsonaro government will also receive nearly 43 million doses of vaccine through the COVAX facility and has signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase 70 million doses from Pfizer and another 38 million from the Johnson subsidiary. and Johnson, Janssen. However, most doses of the last two vaccines are not expected to become available by the end of the year, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.
Initially, says Domingues, “the Ministry of Health tried to be cautious and agreed to purchase the vaccine only with the AstraZeneca laboratory and was not prepared to receive the new vaccines that require storage at less than 70 (degrees Celsius).” The Pfizer vaccine should be kept at ultra-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 over the influence of politics on the process, after a year of bitter clashes between Bolsonaro and state governors over the country’s pandemic response.

The president made no secret of preferring the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine instead of a vaccine developed by Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech, which is supported by the state of Sao Paulo and is developing 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 welcomed by the federal government, Bolsonaro promised on Facebook not to buy the vaccine made in China, and his political stimulants worked to inflame xenophobia and fear around her.
No vaccine has yet been approved by ANVISA, Brazil’s health regulator, 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” in any quarter as they assess each candidate’s science and safety.
However, ordinary Brazilians may not be as immune to influence, especially when emanating 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 questioning some vaccines and dismissing the severity of the virus itself, Bolsonaro offered anti-vaxxer fuel, promising to personally refuse vaccination because he already had Covid-19 – despite evidence that reinfection, although rare, is possible.

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

Reporting contributed by Tatiana Arias, Jennifer Z. Deaton, Natalie Gallon and Stefano Pozzebon.

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