Protests in Brazil support president in anti-vaccine stance

Small groups of protesters gared in Brazil's two biggest cities Sunday to demonstrate against any mandate for taking of a coronavirus vaccine, supporting a rejection campaign encourd by President Jair Bolsonaro.

People assembled in downtown Sao Paulo calling for removal of Sao Paulo state Gov. Joao Doria, who has said state residents will be required to take a vaccine, likely one being developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sivac and local Butantan Institute.

“Doria will fall!” protestors chanted. “Out with Doria!”

CoronaVac, as it is being called, has been a prime target for skepticism from Bolsonaro and ors, with president saying Brazilians will t be guinea pigs to Chinese. issue has become a talking point in mayoral and city council campaigns for elections later this month, and as most health professions support vaccination, social media campaigns have raised questions about possible perils of vaccines.

Demonstrators supporting Bolsonaro on question also protested on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

A PoderData poll said this week percent of Brazilians who say y would take a coronavirus vaccine dropped to 63% in October from 85% four months earlier. percent rejecting idea of taking a vaccine rose to 22% from 8% in July.

Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank said an analysis of 2 million Twitter postings found that 24% of profiles identified as pro-Bolsonaro and y accounted for 56% of mentions against vaccine. On or side, 47% of profiles identified as pro-vaccine and represented 32% of postings.

In October, Doria said vaccination would be mandatory in his state, and Bolsonaro’s health minister, Eduardo Pazuello, anunced that country h agreed to purchase CoronaVac doses produced locally.

president quickly responded that he would t allow import of vaccines from China. Though health regulator later gave permission for Butantan to import 6 million doses, on Thursday president said on his weekly live program that he would t buy vaccine and that goverr should “find someone else to buy your vaccine.”

On Friday, Vice President Hamilton Mourao told magazine Veja that “of course” country will buy Butantan-Sivac vaccine. Bolsonaro immediately responded that he is one with power and he won’t spend on any vaccine that is t approved by Brazilian health regulator.

Brazil has reported more than 5.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, and about 160,000 people have died from COVID-19, disease that can be caused by virus. While spre of virus has begun slowing, public health experts warn people t to let ir guard down.

Health professionals are also speaking out in an effort to shore up support for vaccines.

“Vaccination en masse with high cover would be only mechanism we have to control epidemic, at least in medium-term,” Jesem Orellana, an epidemiology researcher at Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a scientific research institution, said in a written response to questions. “We have failed over past eight months with n-pharmacological measures.”

Dr. Paulo A Lotufo, a University of Sao Paulo epidemiologist, said national immunization programs have been well-received by Brazilian public, which has seen positive impact of vaccinations, including against meningitis and polio.

“ population will take vaccine,” Lotufo predicted in a Skype interview. “More than 90% of population will vaccinate.”