BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will not vaccinate his 11-year-old daughter towards COVID-19, he stated on Monday, sustaining the agency anti-vaccine stance that has drawn criticism from public well being specialists and hit his ballot numbers.
The right-wing chief added that the nation’s well being minister, Marcelo Queiroga, will expose on Jan. 5 the way by which Brazil will perform its coronavirus vaccination marketing campaign for five to 11-year-olds, which was permitted earlier this month.
“Children have not been dying in a approach that justifies a vaccine for kids,” he advised reporters within the southern state of Santa Catarina.
Vaccination of youngsters has been a scorching matter in Brazil, the place Bolsonaro’s core supporters have fervently opposed the measure, even because the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants helps vaccines.
In October, nationwide well being regulator Anvisa stated its employees had acquired dying threats relating to the problem. When Anvisa permitted photographs for five to 11-year-olds, Bolsonaro provoked controversy by saying he needed to make public the names of the officers who had signed off on the approval.
On Dec. 23, Queiroga, the well being minister, provoked additional controversy by saying that the variety of COVID-19 deaths amongst kids did not justify an emergency authorization. He later stated that coronavirus vaccines for kids would require a health care provider’s prescription, which state well being secretaries instantly contradicted.
“I’ve talked with Queiroga about this. On the fifth, he ought to printed a notice about how vaccinating kids must be carried out,” Bolsonaro stated. “I hope there isn’t any judicial interference. I hope. Because my daughter is not getting vaccinated, let me make that very clear.”
A authorities coronavirus advisory physique launched a notice saying that 301 kids between the ages of 5 and 11 have died of COVID-19 in Brazil.
Bolsonaro himself has refused to get vaccinated and has repeatedly referred to as into query the security and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Dan Grebler)
