The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, again questioned the effectiveness of anti-covid vaccines and said he intends to change the law so that only the government has the power to decide on the mandatory “health passport”, which categorically refuses. The president said in statements to the Poder360 website that he wants to send Congress a proposal for the executive to have exclusive powers to set the rules around the vaccination voucher, already in force in dozens of Brazilian cities.
“Mayors and governors cannot have this freedom. I know most are not adopting it, but there are some who are already threatening to fire” officials who choose not to vaccinate against covid-19, the Brazilian president said. . At least 249 municipalities in the country have adopted the vaccination certificate as a requirement for access to certain services, according to a survey published in late September.
Furthermore, the first cases of the omicron variant in the country prompted many governors to ask the government to impose a vaccination certificate on foreigners who want to enter the country, but Bolsonaro was adamant on this point. A meeting is scheduled for today to discuss the matter between ministers and technicians from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), which recommended the government to implement the covid passport for better border health control. The head of state, who is also opposed to the use of masks and social distancing, and who has even called covid a “little joke”, said he will veto any federal initiative in this matter.