Brazilian V.P. Contradicts Bolsonaro; Says Government Will Purchase Sinovac Covid-19 Vaccine

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Vice-President Hamilton Mourão said that the federal government will buy the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese company Sinovac in partnership with the Butantan Institute, if its efficacy is confirmed. According to Mourão, President Jair Bolsonaro’s statements, in which he said he would not buy the immunizer, is “a political fight with Doria”.

“This vaccine issue is a political fight with Doria. The government will buy the vaccine, of course it will. We have already allocated the funds to Butantan to produce this vaccine. The government is not going to abandon this,” he said, in an interview published in Veja magazine on Friday, October 31st.

Last Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the Ministry of Health announced that it intended to purchase 46 million doses of the Coronavac, President Jair Bolsonaro disavowed Minister Pazuello and said that the immunizer against the novel coronavirus “will not be purchased” by the Brazilian government. Bolsonaro also claimed that there is “great distrust” with respect to the Chinese vaccine.

After Mourão’s statement, Bolsonaro said to R7 news site that “the BIC pen” is his, disavowing the Vice-President. Bolsonaro often refers to his “pen” to point out that he is the one making the final decisions in the government.

Butantan Institute Director Dimas Covas said the Vice-President’s statement is “excellent” and that it “demonstrates that he understands the significance of the vaccine in this critical moment of national life.”

“He, as a career soldier and committed to the welfare of the population, is taking the issue of the vaccine in its rightful place: the vaccine is a matter of health, not ideology or politics. I personally believe that the Ministry of Health will purchase the vaccines approved by the ANVISA to be included in the National Immunization Program, and the sooner we have a vaccine in such condition the better for everyone,” added Director Covas.

Mourão also said in the interview that he is not afraid to take the CoronaVac, in case it is certified by the National Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA). He also said that China is a “global power, which practices state capitalism”. He added that Chinese companies that prove commitment to “sovereignty, privacy and economy” are able to participate in the 5G auction in Brazil, another fraught political issue.

“Now, is it a single party? It is a single party. Is it a dictatorial authoritarian regime? It is a dictatorial authoritarian regime. But it is their regime. We have to understand that China has never lived under a democratic regime, in a republic as we understand it,” he said.

The Vice-President awarded Brazil an eight-point grade (out of 10) in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. In his opinion, the country was unequal, there was no second wave and the health system withstood the crisis.

The Military, Bolsonaro and 2022

Asked about the article by former presidential spokesperson Otávio do Rêgo Barros criticizing the government and President Bolsonaro, Mourão praised the military officer, but stated that “the Armed Forces are the Armed Forces, and politics is politics”. “Rêgo Barros is someone I care for very much. I understand his grief, but that kind of rant is not in my culture,” he said.

The Vice-President further stated that he believes that people the President trusts are conspiring against him, although he does not know who they are. And that does not worry him.

Asked about the prospect of the President seeking reelection with another Vice-President on his slate, he answered that he currently has no intention of running for another public office, but that he could perhaps run for the Senate.

“Will I run for governor? It’s complicated, I’ll be almost 70 years old by then. I believe that in order to govern certain states here in Brazil, a man needs to be about 15 years younger. I don’t see myself as a legislator either. The Senate, maybe, yes. The Senate has a different pitch, a different way of working, of acting. It could be an option,” he said.

Mourão, who is president of the administration’s Legal Amazon Council, also said that “the rest of the world and a part of Brazilian society are being sold to the idea that the Brazilian government is doing nothing” about environmental preservation, but that this is not true.

He also stated that Minister of Environment Ricardo Salles, “has been cooperating” and that the two have viewpoints that sometimes converge and sometimes diverge. “So far, he is meeting my expectations,” he said.

Source: O Globo

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