Covid-19: Brazil to demand travelers show proof of vaccination as of Monday

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In an inter-ministerial meeting on Sunday (12), with the participation of  ANVISA, the government decided to comply with the Federal Supreme Court’s (STF) decision making proof of vaccination compulsory to enter Brazil. The meeting had not been scheduled.

Representatives from the Chief of Staff, Ministries of Health, Justice, Public Safety, Foreign Relations, and Infrastructure, as well as ANVISA, were present at the Planalto Palace.

At the end of the meeting, a representative of the Chief of Staff briefed journalists that a new ordinance with rules for travelers entering Brazil should be published this week – most likely on Monday. The government will follow Justice Luís Roberto Barroso’s decision and will start demanding proof of vaccination from travelers coming to Brazil by air or land.

Ministry of Health executive secretary Rodrigo Cruz told journalists that Justice Barroso Saturday’s injunction to demand proof of vaccination for all travelers entering Brazil was the decisive factor for the meeting to be held.

The government had been unwilling to demand proof of vaccination, in line with President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) position.

BARROSO’S DECISION

In his decision issued on Saturday, Barroso pointed out “omissions” by the federal government in its ordinances governing immigration, and granted political party Rede Sustentabilidade’s petition to compel the federal government to implement ANVISA’s recommendations. The agency had in November recommended mandatory vaccination to enter Brazil.

The magistrate asked that his decision be reviewed by his colleagues in a virtual plenary session as soon as possible.

According to the decision, only travelers unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons will be exempted from presenting proof of vaccination. Other exceptions include non-vaccinated people from who could not get vaccinated due to a lack of vaccines in their country of origin, or exceptional humanitarian reasons.

The Justice argued that the issue is urgent, because the end of the year leads to increased travel and Brazil could become an “anti-vaccine” destination.

“Every day thousands of people enter Brazil by air and land, so each day that proof of vaccination or quarantine is not required, the risk of infecting the Brazilian population increases, and the effectiveness of the vaccination effort undertaken by Brazil may be compromised,” he said.

“The situation is even more serious if considered that Brazil is a tourist destination for end-of-year celebrations, pre-carnaval and Carnaval, among other events, which implies an increase in the flow of travelers between the end of the year and the beginning of 2022,″ he wrote in his decision.

“Moreover, as ANVISA pointed out, facilitating entry without presentation of proof of vaccination may attract to the country an unwanted anti-vaccine tourism that may ultimately jeopardize these very events,” he adds.