Bolsonaro government is still evaluating vaccination passport, says Queiroga

The Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, said that the federal government is still evaluating whether it will follow Anvisa’s guidance to demand a vaccine passport for entry into Brazil.

Despite affirming that the decision still depends on an inter-ministerial assessment, Queiroga added that it would be in line with previous positions taken by the federal government in relation to the issue. President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) is against any measure of proof of immunization and has slowed down the advancement of passports in the country.

“It is necessary to expand access to vaccines before wanting to curtail individual freedoms. Everything will be done based on technical analysis,” said Queiroga this Tuesday morning (7) during a visit to Incor (Instituto do Coração), in São Paulo.

Anvisa’s idea is that the requirement of proof can prevent the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases registered in Europe and elsewhere from occurring in Brazil.

Queiroga said that he will meet this Tuesday afternoon with the minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira, to resolve the issue.

On Monday, the director of Anvisa said that Brazil can become an anti-vaccination tourist destination if it does not adopt the passport for those coming from abroad. The measure is mainly resisted by President Bolsonaro.

To avoid having to adopt the measure recommended by Anvisa, the Bolsonaro government is studying alternative actions, such as requiring travelers to take the Covid-19 test in the first 24 hours they are in Brazil.

Last Sunday (5), the president defended, once again, the non-mandatory nature of vaccines against Covid and stated that he will seek to change the legislation so that only the federal government can determine rules on the vaccination passport.

On Monday (6), Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), gave 48 hours for the Bolsonaro government to explain why proof of vaccination is not required for people arriving in Brazil by air.

Part of the president’s team and the ministries fear they will be held responsible for the omission, as pressure increased to adopt the vaccine passport after the discovery of the omicron variant.