RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Rumors and conspiracy theories erupted this past week over the whereabouts of Ze Gotinha, the mascot of Brazil’s national vaccination program.
The outcry around the dressed Z Gotinha began on Wednesday after former President Luiz In ઇનcio Lula da Silva pointed out his recent absence.
“Where’s our favorite Z Gotinha?” Da Silva said in a speech criticizing President Jair Bolsonaro for handling the epidemic.
Ze Gotinha, whose name roughly translates as “J Dr Drupalt” and resembles a big evolved Cas Cas Friendly Ghost, was created by the Ministry of Health in the 1980s to promote vaccination against the polio virus and to facilitate children.
“The advertisements about the vaccine were very heavy. They were associated with something terrible, tragic, life-threatening.
Gotinha changed and due to its success, he then made regular presentations to warn about the importance of preventing measles, tuberculosis, whooping cough, diphtheria and most recently Covid-19.
But Gotinha was last seen in public at a ceremony on December 16 at the start of the country’s vaccination program. This character, much loved by children, rejected the attempt made by Bolsonaro in the name of social distance.
Da Silva, a leftist who is a rival to Bolsonaro, presented his theory about what happened to Gotinha: “The Bolsonaro fired him because he thought he was from the Workers’ Party.”
One theory is that at the moment Mascot does not need publicity services, as Brazil is using its limited dose to vaccinate people in the elderly and priority groups, not yet children.
Many on social networks are speculating about Gotinha’s future. One person talked about the drama of Gotinha being lazy. Another reinterpreted the typical poster of a missing child, in which the image of the mascot and the caption “disappeared”.
“Cheerful for the speedy recovery of Z. Gotinha. Only this hero can save us, ”said a Twitter user, adding that the mascot could be suffering from an illness.
Since coronavirus vaccinations began in Brazil, Bolsonaro has cast doubt on their effectiveness. He recently began to back down on such skepticism, but continued to claim that drugs such as hydroxychloroquine could help prevent hospitalization, although they showed no benefit in a rigorous study.
According to Brazil’s National Committee of National Health Secretaries, due to low supply and slow rollout, about %% of Brazilians have received at least one vaccine shot. But ter %% Brazilians want to be vaccinated, according to a survey published by Polster Datafoha on January 23, which is 6 percentage points higher than the previous poll in December.
On Friday, Gotinha’s drawing featured a look on social media by the president’s son and union legislator Eduardo Bolsonaro. The mascot was shown holding a syringe in the shape of an assault rifle. “Our weapon is the vaccine,” the legislator wrote.
Gotinha’s creator, artist Darlan Rosa, was amazed.
“(Gotinha) was conceived as an academic character. “There’s nothing educational about the gun,” Rosa told the newspaper Folha DS. Said Paul. Another cartoonist, Carlos Letoff, drew an image of Gotinha breaking a rifle above the knee.
Dominguez, a former coordinator of the vaccination program, said Gotinha is an integral part of the vaccination effort.
“Gotinha thought of making the vaccination a holiday for children, and it was a big success,” Domings said. “He was one of the key people responsible for the change in the perspective on vaccination.”
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