Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has announced his intention to reveal the identities of the officials who authorized vaccinations for children, despite them having received death threats.
In October, the country’s health regulator, Anvisa, said its five directors had received emails threatening them with death if Covid-19 vaccines for children aged five to 11 were approved. Anvisa underlined that “given the seriousness of the fact,” it immediately notified the police and the government, asking them “to adopt the appropriate measures.”
On Thursday, the same day that the regulator approved Pfizer’s shot for young children, Bolsonaro, known for his consistent opposition to anti-Covid measures, said the public should know who made the decision.
Noting that Anvisa is not subordinate to him, he claimed, “We want to publicize these people’s names so that everyone knows who these people are and, of course, forms their own judgment.”
“You have the right to know the names of people who have approved the vaccination from five years old for your child,” he said during a live broadcast on social media.
There has been no reaction from Anvisa so far.
More than 617,000 lives in Brazil have been lost to Covid-19.
Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic has been widely criticized both within the country and from abroad. According to a September poll by Datafolha, the approval rating for the president’s administration dropped to 22%, “the worst result since the beginning of his administration.”
