Prognosis
Bolsonaro Mistrusts Covid Vaccines and Brazil Is Falling Behind
- President says he sees no need to seek shots or needles
- With 8 million cases and 200,000 dead, Brazil’s been badly hit
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Across the globe, presidents and prime ministers are scrambling to score precious vials of Covid vaccine to protect citizens and gain political favor. Not Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro.
The president, who from the start has belittled the pandemic, refuses to be vaccinated, pooh-poohs any need to negotiate with drug companies and says the country will wait for prices to fall before buying syringes or needles. On Thursday, he said Brazilians don’t even want vaccines -- information he obtained by polling people in the street and at the beach.