Brazil is the country with the lowest vaccine rejection in Latin America, says World Bank

Brazil is the country with the lowest percentage of the population that declares not wanting to take the Covid-19 vaccine in Latin America.

This is the conclusion of a survey carried out in partnership by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), based on periodic telephone calls to households in 24 countries in Latin America. Data from the second phase of the survey were presented this Monday (29) in Washington.

According to the study, while the average rate of vaccine hesitation in Latin America is around 8%, in Brazil it is less than half, around 3%. On the other hand, while, on average, 51% of Latin Americans are already immunized against Covid-19, in Brazil the percentage exceeds 80%.

The data indicate that repeated statements by President Jair Bolsonaro that cast doubts on the safety and efficacy of immunization have not found adherence in the Brazilian population, even among its supporters.

Bolsonaro is the only G20 leader to claim not to have been vaccinated. The president has already stated, without any scientific evidence, that anyone who took Pfizer’s vaccine could “turn alligator”, linked the immunizing agent to the development of AIDS and suggested that Coronavac, produced by Butantan in partnership with China, caused “death, disability, anomaly”.

A year ago, he posted a photo of him hugging a dog on his Twitter, with the caption: “mandatory vaccine only here in Faísca”.

Covid’s final CPI report attributes the federal government to delay in starting the Brazilian vaccine program, which only started months after the US and Europe. The president has always denied having been responsible for any delay in vaccination.

Despite this, Brazil currently surpasses the Americans and some European countries in vaccination coverage, thanks to the strong adhesion of the population.

Public health specialists attribute the phenomenon to the culture of immunization nurtured for years in massive vaccination campaigns promoted by the Unified Health System – and in which the central figure was Zé Gotinha.

In addition, the fact that the Bolsa Família cash transfer program and public schools and day care centers require vaccination to ensure the benefit and vacancies also generate engagement among the population.

For scholars, however, it is necessary to be aware of the possible long-term effects of statements by authorities against vaccines. Vaccination coverage in Brazil has been declining since 2011 and one of the causes may be precisely the vaccination hesitation.

According to the World Bank study, rural and poor areas are now the most affected by anti-vaccine sentiments in Latin America. “Among the unvaccinated, more than half say their malaise stems from a lack of confidence and a concern with the vaccine’s effectiveness. Vaccine hesitation is particularly high among rural households and individuals with lower levels of education. The Caribbean population. has the highest levels of vaccine hesitation,” the researchers say in the report.

Haiti is the country with the lowest vaccination rate against the new coronavirus (less than 1%) and with the highest proportion of people who say they refuse to take the immunizing agent (almost 60%). Haiti was also the last nation in the Americas to receive doses to start the immunization campaign, which is proceeding at a slow pace.

Behind Haitians, inhabitants of Jamaica and Saint Lucia are the ones who most refuse vaccination, with 50% and 43%, respectively.

Health improved, education not so much

The report also points out that access to healthcare on the continent has improved and has already returned to pre-pandemic levels.

While 48% of the Latino population, on average, sought emergency medical care recently, a similar percentage (47%) claimed to have gone to the doctor recently for preventive reasons, which, according to the study authors, reveals that public and private services health workers are no longer burdened by the pandemic as happened at the peak of contamination in the region.

The same, however, did not happen in relation to access to education.

More than a year after the start of the pandemic, only 23% of school-age children in the region were attending classrooms. In Brazil, the percentage was around 40%. The quality of distance education offered and the lack of a safe and quality internet connection on the part of the population raise concerns about the future of children and adolescents.

“Lower engagement in learning activities and low face-to-face attendance pose significant risks to children’s learning outcomes and human capital accumulation. Recent estimates reveal that students in the region have lost between 12 and 18 months of schooling. low socioeconomic status were particularly affected, which suggests long-lasting negative effects on social mobility and inequality,” says the research report.