RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday qualified the impact of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil while suggesting it was “welcome.”
“Omicron has already spread around the world, as people who really understand it say,” he said, before correctly noting that the mutation has “a very great ability to spread, but a very low lethality.”
In an interview with Gazeta Brasil, the Brazilian president said the variant “has not killed anyone” and that the death of an infected person in Goiás state, a confirmed infection, corresponds to a person who already had “very serious problems.” The 68-year-old victim had high blood pressure and suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
According to some reputable and knowledgeable people not associated with pharmaceutical companies, this variant is to be welcomed and could even mean the end of the pandemic,” he said. He also pointed out that the variant “could even be a virus (result) of the vaccine,” UOL reported.
Regarding the Covid-19 vaccines, which have been increasingly criticized worldwide due to the many adverse events, Bolsonaro announced he had ordered Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga to disclose cases of adverse reactions to the vaccines.
In the interview, he again criticized the vaccination of children, which will begin in Brazil at the end of this month, reiterating that “almost no, a very small number” of children have died from COVID-19 in the Latin American country. “And this small number (…) with comorbidity,” he added.