Jair Bolsonaro
Photographer: Andre Borges / Bloomberg
Photographer: Andre Borges / Bloomberg
Brazil accelerated plans to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus after the state of São Paulo began to pressure President Jair Bolsonaro to act more quickly to contain an incipient loss of popularity.
The government started distributing on Monday 6 million doses of a dose produced by China Sinovac Biotech Ltda in partnership with the Butantan Institute of São Paulo for all its 27 states, giving the green light for the immediate start of immunizations, according to an official note. Less than 24 hours earlier, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello had said that the national campaign would begin on Wednesday.
The pressure on the Brazilian president and his health minister increased dramatically when the governor of São Paulo, João Doria, organized a ceremony on Sunday to administer the first dose of the so-called CoronaVac injection – just minutes after the country’s health regulator approved its emergency use. The photo of a black nurse being vaccinated was published in the Brazilian media and became a political victory for Doria, one of Bolsonaro’s main opponents.
Health worker administers dose of coronavirus vaccine against Sinovac Biotech Ltd. at University Hospital of São Paulo on Sunday
“Bolsonaro is losing the support of his supporters,” said Marcio Coimbra, a political scientist who runs the Interlegis think tank in Brasilia. “Emergency aid was the main driver of its popularity, while the pandemic and vaccines were an obstacle.”
Bolsonaro’s popularity fell 6 percentage points to 32% in January, a month after the end of his money-giving program for informal workers, according to an XP / Ipespe poll that interviewed 1,000 people between January 11 and 14. Half of the respondents wanted the government to propose a similar emergency program for a few more months. It is the first time since May that its popularity has declined, the researcher said.
Read more: Oxygen scarcity causes curfew in the capital of the Brazilian Amazon
The president, who has repeatedly questioned the safety of shots against a pandemic that killed more than 200,000 Brazilians, is under increasing political pressure as national vaccination plans are lagging behind those of major regional partners and Covid- 19 again spread across the country. To complicate matters, shipments from The AstraZeneca Plc booster – the federal government’s main bet to support a mass campaign – has been delayed amid difficult negotiations with India, where part of the doses are being produced.
Without their main card readily available, the health ministry decided to proceed with CoronaVac – a vaccine that was sponsored by Doria and repeatedly criticized by Bolsonaro “due to its origin”. The collapse of the health system in the capital of Amazonas, where hospitals have run out of oxygen to treat patients, has contributed to a renewed sense of urgency. In response to the crisis, trucks loaded with oxygen donated by Nicolas Maduro’s government in Venezuela crossed the border with Brazil on Monday, according to the G1 website.
Several state governors, who have been demanding a more forceful response from the Ministry of Health, celebrated the start of the vaccination campaign on social networks by posting photos and videos of vaccine shipments loaded on Brazilian Air Force jets. In Rio de Janeiro, Mayor Eduardo Paes organized a ceremony at the foot of the statue of Christ the Redeemer to mark the date.
Still, not all states were shot immediately, with Pazuello attributing some delays to logistical challenges.
With CoronaVac being distributed across the country, Doria achieves a political victory that strengthens her position as a possible candidate in the 2022 presidential election, said Coimbra, warning that other names are likely to come along the way.
– With the assistance of Isadora Sanches and Marisa Wanzeller
(Updates with details about Manaus in the seventh paragraph, delays in the penultimate paragraph. An earlier version of this story has been corrected to say that Bolsonaro’s popularity has dropped 6 percentage points, not basic points.)