Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has reportedly warned that the new Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine could turn people into "crocodiles," while the country continues to trail only the U.S. for the largest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world.
Brazil recorded over 1,000 virus-related deaths on Thursday, with over 184,000 deaths since the pandemic began. Bolsonaro announced Brazil's vaccine distribution plans on Wednesday, saying that inoculations would eventually be provided free of charge "for everyone who wants it," while insisting that he would not personally be vaccinated. The president later claimed that the vaccine could cause several bizarre side effects, including the transformation of humans into toothy reptiles.
"In the Pfizer contract it's very clear: 'we're not responsible for any side effects.' If you turn into a crocodile, it's your problem," Bolsonaro said Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse. "If you become superhuman, if a woman starts to grow a beard or if a man starts to speak with an effeminate voice, they will not have anything to do with it."
Bolsonaro, a far-right populist who has often been compared to President Donald Trump, has consistently downplayed COVID-19. Early in the pandemic, he compared the virus to a "little flu" despite the pathogen being far more deadly than typical flu viruses. Last month, he reasoned that "we're all going to die someday."
Bolsonaro has also spoken out against making the vaccine mandatory in Brazil. The country's Supreme Court ruled that the vaccine would not be mandatory but "obligatory" on Thursday, leaving open the possibility that those who refuse it could face fines or being banned from public areas. The president cited his own recovery from the virus, which he contracted in July, as a reason for not personally receiving the vaccine.
"Some people say I'm giving a bad example," said Bolsonaro. "But to the imbeciles, to the idiots that say this, I tell them I've already caught the virus, I have the antibodies, so why get vaccinated?"
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Source: Newsweek
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