The Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello, announced the acquisition Tuesday in assembly with the governor of Sao Paulo, Joo Doria, an enemy of Bolsonaro whose state is concerned about the progression of the vaccine through his Butantan Institute. The acquisition fee is estimated at R$2 billion ($360 million).
“The Butantan vaccine will be the vaccine in Brazil,” Pazuello said.
A brazilian Ministry of Health document published Monday and shared through the Government of Sao Paulo on Wednesday showed that the ministry had expressed in writing its goal of acquiring doses of “Butantan Vaccine-Sinovac / Covid-19” for an estimated value of $10. 30 each.
The document explained that the subject acquired to the approval of the fitness regulator. Bolsonaro told reporters that the protocol would be cancelled.
Claudio Couto, professor of political science at the Getulio Vargas Foundation University, said the president’s resolution had little to do with the virus and more like a way to harm Doria, who is widely cited as a very likely candidate for the replacement of Bolsonaro’s election in 2022.
“His fear is to be a strong candidate for re-election, and that means disturbing his opponents,” Couto said.
Bolsonaro and Doria have had a conflicting relationship since the beginning of the pandemic, taking opposing positions on recommendations to stay at home and activity restrictions. The governor, whose state is Brazil’s most populous state, has listened to the recommendation of public fitness experts and followed such measures, which the president has criticized, arguing that economic benefits can simply kill more than the disease.
Brazil has shown more than 153,000 DEATHS from COVID-19, the largest number in the world, États-Unis. La South American country alone also reported 5. 2 million cases of coronavirus infections, the 3rd largest overall in the world.
“It’s not an ideology, it’s not politics and it’s not the electoral procedure that saves. It’s the vaccine,” Doria told journalists in Brasilia, the country’s capital.
At a brief press convention on the Sao Paulo campaign, Bolsonaro responded to Doria, accusing the governor of gambling politics by rushing to get vaccinated to spice up his popularity. narrative of terrorism since the beginning of the pandemic “.
Brazil has a long culture of vaccination programs. The South American country has a public health formula that suffers but has been to prevent outbreaks of measles, yellow fever and other diseases.
Bolsonaro said no one would be forced to get vaccinated against coronavirus, but wednesday’s comments on specific skepticism about the vaccine evolved through Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac.
He has expressed distrust of the Asian power, which is Brazil’s largest trading partner, especially during the 2018 election campaign, called China “ruthless” and said that under his leadership he would not be allowed to buy Brazil.
“LA VACUNA CHINA JORI JORI”, Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Wednesday. “For my government, any vaccine, before it is reached to the population, will have to be SCIENTIFICALLY TESTED.
Despite this nod to clinical rigor, Bolsonaro has promoted for months the healing powers of hydroxychloroquine, even when studies have shown that the antimalarial drug is useless against coronavirus and causes destructive effects.
In June, the Brazilian government announced an agreement with the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to purchase 100 million doses of its possible vaccine against the coronavirus.
It is not uncommon for governments to buy doses of promising vaccines opposed to coronaviruses, to accumulate reserves if they prove effective. This investment is sometimes non-refundable if the injection fails.
Previously, the executive secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Fitness said on a television that there had been a false impression on the announcement of the acquisition of CoronaVac vaccines.
“There is no goal to buy vaccines in China,” said Antonio Elcio Franco, who added that only one “Brazilian vaccine” will be manufactured at the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo. However, these plans would still be under investigation by Sinovac.
At least two governors, adding Flavio Dino in Maranhao state, said they would fight Bolsonaro management if he refused to allow a vaccine to work, no matter where he came from.
“We don’t need a new war,” said Dino, another opponent of the president. “Governors will go to Congress and the courts to make sure the public has access to all vaccines and vaccines. Health is a more vital asset than ideological or electoral conflicts. “
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