SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The first six million doses of the Chinese Coronavac vaccine will arrive in São Paulo within a week. The São Paulo government is also counting on clearance by ANVISA (National Health Regulatory Agency) to receive raw materials for the production of another 40 million doses of the immunizer, which is being tested against the novel coronavirus by the Butantan Institute.
In a press conference, São Paulo governor João Doria again commented on President Jair Bolsonaro’s position with respect to immunization against Covid-19 in the country. He said that it is the governors who are saving lives in the novel coronavirus pandemic and that he would like the President to have “a different behavior”.
Doria denied that there was a war for the vaccine on his part. “It’s unbelievable that we have a country where the President doesn’t support people’s safety”, he criticized. “It seems as if he supports the opposite, because if he were to support it, he would endorse all effective vaccines and with ANVISA approval”, he claimed. “This would be the right approach, which would be expected from a leader in Brazil, I don’t want to politicize this issue.”
He commented on the attacks of the research on the Coronavac vaccine, conducted by the Chinese Sinovac and tested in Brazil under the coordination of the Butantan Institute. “It doesn’t seem to me neither fair, nor correct, nor a humanitarian stance. And I regret that some members of the federal government still adopt this lamentable position”.
“We do support several vaccines, not just one vaccine. To disqualify a vaccine because it is Chinese is to defer the chance of more Brazilians having access to a vaccine”, he stressed.
“I respect the Supreme Court’s (STF) decisions, it is Brazil’s Supreme Court. President Bolsonaro is protesting a still preliminary demonstration made by the Supreme Court Chief Justice,” he said of Bolsonaro’s recent criticism of the debate on vaccination which the STF will hold after being mobilized by political parties.
Doria also called for unity between states and the federal government and requested a meeting of the President with governors in Brasília. “Faced with a pandemic, we should have a united country,” he commented.
“It is the governors who are saving lives in Brazil through their quarantine efforts. Maybe with an attitude like that (of holding a meeting), you can show greatness not only in integrating Brazil, protecting Brazilians, but also compassion and goodwill to the people of your country.”
The governor also expressed his best wishes to Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello who is infected with Covid-19, praising him and describing him as “a good and righteous man”. “I am here to reiterate my confidence in the Minister of Health, General Pazuello, who has been accurate. He was evidently disavowed by the President in a reprehensible act, which, by the way, was repeated for the third time, the third Minister of Health disavowed by the President of the Republic.”