RÍO DE JANEIRO (AP) – The Brazilian government handed over to a minister of the Supreme Federal Court an immunization plan against the coronavirus that initially provides for vaccines only for a quarter of the population and does not specify a start date.
The document, released on Saturday, was handed over by the government of President Jair Bolsonaro the night before to Minister Ricardo Lewandoswki, who ordered the report after an opposition political party filed a legal complaint to request information on the government’s immunization plan. against the pandemic.
The plan calls for the government to supply vaccines for priority groups, which number about 51 million people, just under 25% of Brazil’s 212 million inhabitants. The first of the four phases of vaccination of these groups includes workers in the health sector, people over 80 years of age and indigenous people.
However, in the document signed by the Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello, it is stated that “interrupting the circulation of COVID-19 in the national territory depends on a highly effective vaccine” applied to more than 70% of the population.
There is no date indicated for the start of vaccination. Brazil’s health authority, Anvisa, has not yet approved the use of a coronavirus vaccine in the country.
In addition, the plan establishes that to avoid the collapse of health services in Brazil it could be necessary to “maintain social distancing measures for between 1 and 2 years,” the type of measure against the pandemic often criticized by Bolsonaro, who argues that the economic damages derived from the confinements and other restrictions will cause more damage to the country than the disease and deaths from the virus.
Bolsonaro, who recovered from COVID-19 this year and has said that he will not make the vaccine mandatory, has been the target of criticism from various governors and health experts in Brazil in the face of what they consider a delay by the federal government to organize an immunization plan. .
Brazil accumulates more than 180,000 deaths from COVID-19, the second highest figure in the world. In recent weeks, the country has recorded an acceleration in the rate of infections and various states report that the occupation of intensive care units in hospitals exceeds 80%.
For his part, Bolsonaro said Thursday during an official ceremony that Brazil is already experiencing “the end of the pandemic.”
Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria, who accused the government of reluctance, has already submitted his own immunization plan for his state that aims to start vaccination on January 25.
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