Brazil: green light from health authorities for Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, but Bolsonaro procrastinates

Brazil has definitively authorized the use of Pfizer / BioNTech's Covid vaccine.

RODRIGO BUENDIA AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Brazil has just passed the milestone of 250,000 dead.

It has more than 10 million confirmed cases.

Despite this very heavy toll, the Latin American giant cannot speak with one voice against the Covid.

On Tuesday, the drug agency Anvisa approved the vaccine from Pfizer / BioNtech.

And President Bolsonaro, who had said Brazil would buy any vaccine that has received the green light from health officials, has again changed his mind. 

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With our correspondent in Sao Paulo,

Martin Bernard

Jair Bolsonaro was first of all negationist: he denied the importance of vaccines and defended chloroquine - an anti-malaria drug that is not effective against Covid, according to the scientific community.

Faced with pressure from public opinion,

Jair Bolsonaro

 then admitted the usefulness of vaccines.

But the negotiations with Pfizer, which has just received the green light from the health authorities, stumble on a specific point: the responsibility in case of possible side effects.

Jair Bolsonaro had publicly feared that the vaccinated would turn into "

 alligators 

" or "

 women with beards

 ".

However, several politicians are pushing for the government to reach an agreement with Pfizer.

A bill must even be quickly approved to allow the purchase of these vaccines.

But Jair Bolsonaro has said he could use his veto so as not to engage state responsibility on the issue of side effects.

► Read also: Covid-19 in Brazil: hundreds of NGOs and companies unite to speed up vaccination

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  • Brazil

  • Vaccines

  • Coronavirus

  • Jair Bolsonaro

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