Brazil's leader alarms critics with COVID-19 vaccine doubts

Critics of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro are again speaking out against leer’s stance on coronavirus pandemic, this time rejecting his view that vaccination for virus shouldn’t be mandatory.

Bolsonaro’s first such comments came Monday, when he told a supporter, “ one can force anyone to get a vaccine.” He repeated it Thursday night during a live brocast on Facebook, ding his opposition to ministering vaccines that are yet to be proven on Brazilian soil.

“It has been proven in or countries, but t here in Brazil,” he said, without specifying to which potential vaccine he was referring. “We cant be irresponsible and put a vaccine into people’s bodies. As I said, body can oblige someone to take a vacccine.”

comments were swiftly rebuked by opponents on social media.

Sao Paulo state Gov. João Doria, a former Bolsonaro ally turned foe, said in an interview with Associated Press on Friday that immunization cant be viewed as a personal decision. Sao Paulo, with 46 million residents, is pandemic’s epicenter in Brazil, with its more than 30,000 de from COVID-19 accounting for about a fourth of country's death toll from illness.

“It is s that once again Brazil’s president is setting a denialist example,” Doria said in a video call. “It should be obligatory, except in special cases or under health circumstances that justify t taking a vaccine. An infected person infects ors, and makes possible death of ors.”

Brazil’s Workers’ Party, an versary of both Bolsonaro and Doria, said in a statement that president's efforts to create an air of doubt about a future vaccine “igres importance of shots to protect health of entire population.”

national health council, which is a branch of Bolsonaro's own health ministry, said in a statement that government should t be talking about vaccination against COVID-19 t being mandatory.

“ right to individual liberty is t absolute to point of being above collective well-being,” council said.

Since onset of crisis, Bolsonaro has set himself against lockdowns and or bro restrictions on activity imposed by goverrs at recommendation of health experts. president called COVID-19 “a little flu,” and warned that shutting down ecomy would inflict a greater hardship on millions who live hand to mouth.

Brazil’s health ministry to date has confirmed more than 4 million cases of disease and 125,000 deaths. Both numbers trail only United States, according to tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Because Brazil’s caselo is so high, and it has a large, dispersed population of 210 million people, several vaccine developers selected nation to conduct human trials of ir products.

Bolsonaro’s federal government struck an initial deal with AstraZeneca for 30 million doses of its vaccine, which could later rise to 100 million in total.

Sao Paulo’s state government, meanwhile, forged an agreement with Chinese vaccine developer Sivac for 60 million shots, if it is proven effective. But Bolsonaro supporters frequently call COVID-19 a “Chinese virus” and reject working with companies from China.

Doria said Bolsonaro’s move to stir skepticism about foreign-me vaccines is a mistake.

“With one vaccine we cant immunize entire Brazilian population. We need two, three, maybe four, produced in large scale,” goverr said. “As long as it is proven to be efficient, it doesn’t matter if it is Chinese, Russian, French, American or British. What matters is that it saves lives.”

A recent poll by Ipsos Institute in 27 countries published Wednesday found 88% of Brazilians surveyed said y would get immunized against COVID-19 if a vaccine was available.

Brazil's health ministry expects distribution of vaccines can start in first months of 2021.

Max Igor Lopes, an infectious disease specialist at Sao Paulo’s Hospital das Clinicas, believes controversy about mandatory vaccination isn’t helpful.

“What is important is that people take vaccine because y understand that it brings a benefit to m,” he said. “And this is vaccine’s purpose.”

(Im Credit: AP)