Brazil’s vaccination plan is assailed as ‘incompetent’
RIO DE JANEIRO: President Jair Bolsonaro faced scathing criticism Sunday over his government’s plan — or lack thereof, opponents said — to vaccinate the population against Covid-19 in Brazil, the country with the second-highest death toll worldwide.
Brazil published its vaccination plan Saturday with notable holes, including a start date and details of how to reach its target of 70 per cent of the population.
That prompted a new salvo of criticism of the far-right president, who has persistently defied expert advice on containing the pandemic and recently declared he did not plan to be vaccinated.
“Enough shenanigans with the vaccine!” leading newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo said in a front-page editorial.
“President Jair Bolsonaro’s murderous stupidity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic has surpassed all limits.”
Rival daily Estado de Sao Paulo condemned the government’s “lethal incompetence.”
“Faced with the worst health crisis of our era, this government’s response will be remembered as disastrous in every sense... right up to its vaccination plan,” it said.
The plan, which the Supreme Court required the government to present, gives a rough sketch of the target populations and vaccines to be used in Brazil’s initial immunization drive.
It envisions four phases targeting sensitive groups, including health workers, the elderly, indigenous Brazilians and teachers, for a total of 51.6 million people, or 24 per cent of the population of 212 million.
The plan says the optimal target is to vaccinate more than 70 per cent of the population but provides no details on how to reach that figure.
Experts said details on the timeline, logistics and sources of vaccines were also lacking. — AFP