Brazil defers reopening its land borders with Argentina by one week 

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian government will defer for one week the implementation of health regulations for travelers entering the country. The reason was the cyber-attack on websites, apps and systems of the Ministry of Health Friday (10).

The Ministry of Health’s website and the ConnectSUS webpage and app, which provides the National Covid-19 Vaccination Certificate, were hacked. The Ministry’s website is now back up, but it is still impossible to access Covid-19 vaccination data, provided by ConnectSUS.

Also affected was e-SUS Notifica, which receives notifications from states and municipalities about suspected and confirmed Covid-19 syndrome. Another impacted system was the National Immunization Program (SI-PNI) that consolidates vaccinations.

“The DataSUS team is in the process of restoring the database, but we don’t have a deadline yet. As a precaution, today we will publish an ordinance deferring for 7 days the initiation of the rules that would take effect tomorrow,” Cruz said. He explained that the ordinance will be published in an extra edition of the Federal Gazette.

According to the secretary, the goal is to prevent Brazilians currently traveling abroad not being able to download the documents proving vaccination against Covid-19. He added that the Ministry and the cloud service (data storage) have a backup policy.

HEALTH RULES

The new health rules would come into force this Saturday, December 11. To enter Brazil , travelers will be required to present proof of full vaccination against Covid-19, and the administration of the last dose or single dose must have occurred at least 14 days prior to boarding. A negative RT-PCR test performed within the previous 72 hours or a negative antigen test performed 24 hours before will also be required.

The vaccines used must be approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), by the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) or by the health authorities of the country where the traveler was vaccinated.

Non-vaccinated passengers, in addition to submitting the test results, must undergo a 5-day quarantine in the city listed as the final destination on the traveler’s Health Declaration. At the end of quarantine, a new RT-PCR or antigen test will be required. If the result is positive, the passenger will remain in quarantine. If negative, he/she will be able to travel normally within the country.

AIRPORTS

Starting next Monday, December 13, the airports of Brasília, Guarulhos in São Paulo, and Galeão in Rio de Janeiro, will have vaccination posts against Covid-19. The terminals concentrate the largest volume of international passengers in Brazil. According to the Ministry of Health, the aim is for these posts to be operational, particularly during peak hours.