In another unfounded accusation against coronavirus vaccines, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro suggested Thursday that the Pfizer-BioNTech injection could turn people into crocodiles or cause women to grow beards, AFP reported.
“If you turn into a crocodile, it’s your problem,” Bolsonaro said, referring to Pfizer’s disclaimer that the company was not responsible for the side effects. “If you become superhuman, if a woman starts to grow a beard or if a man starts talking in an effeminate voice, they will have nothing to do with it.”
On Wednesday, after launching the country’s immunization campaign, Bolsonaro said the vaccines would be free but not mandatory. However, the country’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the vaccine was mandatory, although it could not be imposed on people.
Bolsonaro, however, maintained that he will not be vaccinated. “Some people say that I am setting a bad example,” he said, according to AFP. “But to the idiots, to the idiots who say this … I tell them that I already caught the virus, I have the antibodies, so why vaccinate me?” His comments are despite the fact that he had tested positive for the virus twice, within weeks, earlier this year.
The Brazilian president had tested positive for coronavirus in July. He has been criticized by health experts for showing complete disregard for physical distancing rules by attending rallies and meeting groups of supporters, often without wearing a protective mask. A senior judge in Brazil had to order Bolsonaro to wear a mask in June.
Bolsonaro had also downplayed the severity of the pandemic on multiple occasions. He has repeatedly urged people to go back to work, citing the deterioration of the economy as the reason, and attended multiple anti-blockade demonstrations. He has also made several insensitive and unscientific claims about the virus. In June, he had said: “We are sorry for all the dead, but that is the fate of all.” He had also called the illness a “little flu.” Then, in April, when asked about the increase in the number of victims in Brazil, he said: “So what? I’m sorry, but what do you want me to do?
Brazil has recorded the third highest number of coronavirus cases, after India and the United States, with more than 71.62 lakh of infections. In terms of deaths, it ranks second after the United States, with a balance of more than 1.85 lakh, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and Medicine.
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