Brazil’s premier has earlier called the coronavirus “a little flu”, however, he insisted this week he would not be vaccinated, even while launching the country’s mass inoculation program.
Continuing his scepticism over coronavirus and science, Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro launched an attack on coronavirus vaccines, even suggesting that the one developed by Pfizer-BioNTech could turn people into crocodiles or bearded ladies.
Brazil’s premier has earlier called the coronavirus “a little flu”, however, he insisted this week he would not be vaccinated, even while launching the country’s mass inoculation program.
On Thursday, Bolsonaro said: “In the Pfizer contract it’s very clear: ‘we’re not responsible for any side effects.’ If you turn into a crocodile, it’s your problem.”
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been undergoing tests in Brazil for weeks and is already being used in the United States and Britain.
“If you become superhuman, if a woman starts to grow a beard or if a man starts to speak with an effeminate voice, they will not have anything to do with it,” the far-right leader said.
Bolsonaro also said the vaccine would be free but not compulsory while launching the immunization campaign on Wednesday.
However, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the vaccine was obligatory, although could not be “forced” on people.
7.1 million cases of Covid infection have been reported in Brazil, whereas 185,000 people have died from the disease.
Jair Bolsonaro said once a vaccine has been certified by Brazil’s regulatory agency Anvisa, “it will be available for everyone that wants it. But me, I won’t get vaccinated.”
“Some people say I’m giving a bad example. But to the imbeciles, to the idiots that say this, I tell them I’ve already caught the virus, I have the antibodies, so why get vaccinated?” he asked.
Earlier in July, Bolsonaro caught the virus but recovered within three weeks.
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