Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president, said in a live stream last Thursday that when the coronavirus vaccine is approved by his country’s health department, he will make sure the vaccine is available for free for the public, but he said he has no interest in being inoculated.
“I’m telling you, I’m not going to take it. It’s my right,” he said, according to the New York Post.
The paper pointed out that Bolsonaro, who came down with the virus in July, is a supporter of President Trump and was criticized for saying earlier this month, “We’re all going to die someday. There’s no use fleeing reality. We have to stop being a country of f–gs… We have to face up to it and fight.”
Like Trump, he is seen as a politician who clashes with heath officials in his country. The Associated Press spoke to Miguel Lago, the executive director of Brazil’s Institute for Health Policy Studies, who said Bolsonaro’s statements are a “horrible sign.”
“If he were a less popular president, this might have little effect. But he is a hero to a lot of people. His hardcore supporters might not get a shot and that will generate more political dispute on the right not to get vaccinated. That will make it harder for Brazil to get above the maximum level of 70 to 75% of the populations vaccinated, which is key for life to go back to some kind of normal,” Lago said.
The country of 209.5 million people absorbed 171,000 coronavirus deaths since the beginning of the year.
TREND FORECAST: As goes Bolsonaro, so, too, will a majority of Brazilians who will oppose getting vaccinated.
And his comment “We’re all going to die someday. There’s no use fleeing reality,” reflects the opposite of what prevails throughout most of society: The Denial of Death. A massive population who believes there is a pill for every ill and a vaccination to kill any disease.
