RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – An inquiry was opened last week into the virtual attacks, which escalated after the agency authorized the use of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine in children aged 5 to 11, and after President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said he asked for the names of ANVISA officials responsible for approving the vaccine in order to disclose them.
“I have unofficially asked for the names of the people who approved the vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. We want to disclose the names of these people,” Bolsonaro said during a live stream.
From the material shared by the agency, investigators are trying to identify the perpetrators. With the subject “Vaccine for children,” one of the emails was sent on Saturday, December 18, at 2:12 PM.
The text reads: “Hello director, did you authorize these experimental vaccines for children? Who will take responsibility for the deaths and the many adverse effects such as strokes, blood clots, autoimmune diseases, myocarditis…etc. Know that if you do not pay for this under the law of man in the International Court in the Hague you will still pay in the spiritual planes.”
On the same day, at 3:47 PM, another email received was labeled “Murder.”
The sender wrote “Look at your hands, they are dirty with blood you murderous bastard. You are just another COMMUNIST with no character, traitor to the President and shameless, wearing that little red tie, the color of the blood of the little children you are murdering.”
It continues: “Sue me, I want to expose you, I will prove your involvement in the deaths of thousands of Brazilians affected by your ludicrous decisions, you scoundrel, murderer!”
ANVISA released a statement on Friday, December 17, to refute President Jair Bolsonaro’s comments. The agency said that it is the focus of violent political activism and that it vehemently rejects any threat.
On Sunday, December 19, the agency reiterated to public security agencies its request for police protection of the institution’s directors. According to an official statement from the agency, the threats to the physical integrity of the agency’s directors had intensified in the previous 24 hours.
The agency sent letters requesting the reinforcement of the directors’ security to the Chief Minister of the Cabinet of Institutional Security Augusto Heleno; to Minister of Justice Anderson Torres; to the Prosecutor General Augusto Aras; and to the Federal Police.
Minister of Health Marcelo Queiroga came out in defense of the President of the Republic, arguing that the names of the technicians involved in the approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for children should be disclosed.