RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The federal government announced on Tuesday (7) that it will require a five-day quarantine for travelers not vaccinated against Covid-19 who arrive by air in Brazil. In a ceremony at the Planalto Palace, the Health Minister, Marcelo Queiroga, detailed that those quarantined will have to undergo an RT-PCR type test with negative results after the quarantine period is defined.
According to the minister, about 80% of the Brazilian population over 14 years old is already immunized with the two doses of the vaccine. The number represents more than 175 million inhabitants. He also highlighted that the country managed to “strongly reduce” the number of cases and deaths caused by Covid-19 – in the last six months, the drop was around 90%.
VACCINE PASSPORT
About the possibility of requiring a vaccination certificate for travelers who want to enter the country, recommended by the National Health Regulator (Anvisa), Queiroga evaluated that the confrontation to the pandemic is not only about “a so-called passport that creates more discord than consensus.”
“Lately, the world has become very worried about a new variant of the virus. These variants can happen anywhere in the world. Countries that identify these variants cannot be punished by restricting their citizens.”
“It is necessary to defend individual freedoms, to respect the rights of Brazilians to access public health policies freely,” he said. “This theme involves Brazil’s foreign relations, and Brazil is a country that is well recognized exactly for using the principle of reciprocity,” he added.