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President Jair Bolsonaro took advantage of the suspension by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) to test the Coronavac vaccine to, once again, attack the governor of São Paulo, João Doria (PSDB-SP). In response to a follower on his Facebook account, the president wrote that he “won over” the toucan.
The immunizer against covid-19 is developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac in association with the Butantan Institute, linked to the São Paulo government, and Anvisa suspended its clinical tests yesterday after a “serious adverse event” registered on October 29. The agency did not say what the reported problem was, but did mention that possible “serious events” include serious reactions, death, abnormalities and prolonged hospitalizations.
Bolsonaro’s comment was posted in response to a user who asked if Brazil could buy and produce the vaccine. The president cited three of the effects hypothetically listed by Anvisa and also recalled one of his disagreements with Doria, on whether vaccines are mandatory or not.
Death, disability, anomaly. This is the vaccine that Dória wanted to force all São Paulo citizens to take. The president said the vaccine could never be mandatory. One more that Jair Bolsonaro wins
President Jair Bolsonaro, on Facebook
Jair Bolsonaro quoted João Doria in the comment
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Suspension of tests is a common practice to clarify when a serious adverse effect is detected. Other coronavirus vaccine tests, such as that developed in collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Swedish laboratory Astrozeneca, have also suffered brief interruptions due to similar events and have been resumed.
In the note issued last night, Anvisa cited all the serious adverse effects expected from the interruption of the tests, but did not specify which one was verified in the case in question. Only a medical investigation will indicate if there is any relationship to the immunizer.
The director of the Butantan institute, Dimas Covas, said it was a death not related to immunization tests.
Fight with Doria
With the comment, Jair Bolsonaro takes up the confrontation he has had with Doria since the beginning of the pandemic. The president has treated Coronavac as a “Chinese vaccine for Doria” and recently canceled a partnership signed between the Ministry of Health and the Government of São Paulo for the acquisition of the immunizer.
Another sticking point is the mandatory vaccination. Doria was in favor of the possibility in the State of São Paulo, which has generated constant criticism from Jair Bolsonaro and his followers.
In another response to a netizen, who suggested that the president get vaccinated like a vaccine guinea pig, Bolsonaro returned to the topic: “I’m not the one who wants it. You’re on the wrong page. Good morning.”
Jair Bolsonaro does not want the vaccine to be mandatory
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Phase 3 of the Coronavac tests
Coronavac is in phase 3 testing, the last to prove its effectiveness.
At this stage, the volunteers are divided into two groups: one receives the vaccine and the other, placebo, a substance without effect. Only an international committee knows who took it or not. Volunteers are monitored by this group because 61 of them need to be infected with the new coronavirus.
The tests for the immunizer developed by Sinovac are performed in other countries, according to the WHO (World Health Organization), such as Indonesia and Turkey.
Anvisa’s suspension of the tests occurred the same day that João Doria announced that the first batch of Coronavac would arrive in São Paulo on November 20. However, the application of any drug or immunizer depends on the approval of the national regulatory agency.
Post about government actions
The comment about Doria came after an extensive publication on social networks in which Bolsonaro spoke of the actions of the federal government in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic.
Among the measures mentioned, the president mentioned, as one of the efforts promoted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, studies on nitazoxanide in the early treatment of covid-19. However, according to medical research, the dewormer does not prevent complications from Covid-19.
In the charges, the president reinforced the national character of the implemented measures and argued that Brazil became independent from imports, such as, for example, lung ventilators.
“The Minister of Science and Technology, Marcos Pontes, and President Jair Bolsonaro have been working, since February, together with science, in the fight against covid-19,” Bolsonaro wrote.
* With information from Estadão Content.
