Vaccine might turn people into crocs or ladies with beards – Brazilian President

Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has sought to ridicule the ongoing vaccination programme to beat coronavirus. He has said Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was fraught with danger of turning people into ladies with beards or even crocodiles.

Bolsonaro has categorically stated that he will never get inoculated against COVID-19, which he has called a mild flu not to be taken seriously. He has said that the Pfizer contract, which says it is not responsible for any side effects from the vaccine, and would not take responsibility for anything that happens to the people who get the jab even if they turn into crocodiles.

“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,” the Brazilian President is reported to have said.

He said so while launching his country’s immunisation campaign recently. He stressed that inoculation was not compulsory.

Bolsanaro also maintained that the vaccination drive would be free for people but there is no compulsion in taking the shots.

Bolsonaro said: “It will be available for everyone that wants it. But me, I won’t get vaccinated … Some people say I’m giving a bad example. 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?”

The Brazilian Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the vaccine was obligatory, but it should not be forced on the public.

Legal experts say the implication of this ruling could be that the people who refuse to be vaccinated can be fined or denied admission to public places but cannot be forced to take the jab.

The COVID-19 caseload in Brazil, which has a population of 212 million has crossed 7.1 million and the death toll from it has risen to 185,000.

The Brazilian President has come under severe criticism the world over for his callous disregard for the global efforts to beat the virus and making nasty remarks to discourage the public from following health guidelines in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.