Bolsonaro wants parental consent and a prescription to vaccinate children

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said he asked the Health Minister, Marcelo Queiroga, that parents and guardians of children under 12 have to sign a term of responsibility to vaccinate their children, in addition to the requirement for a medical prescription.

The statement was given this Sunday (19) to supporters and local media that accompanied the president in Praia Grande, on the south coast of São Paulo. Bolsonaro has been staying at the Forte dos Andradas transit hotel since Friday (17th), located in Guarujá, a neighboring municipality.

“We worked yesterday [sábado] the whole day. I started at 3:30 am, at 4 am I called Queiroga and gave him a guideline. Obviously, he’s the one who hits the hammer because he’s the team doctor. It will go through Health,” he explained.

“What do we intend to do? Vaccination for children only if authorized by their parents. If any mayor, governor or dictator wants to impose it is another story, but the federal government must have parental authorization and a medical prescription,” he added.

The president once again reinforced his speech from three days earlier, when he said he had asked Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) to disclose the name of the technicians responsible for approving Pfizer’s immunizing agent to vaccinate children aged 5 to 11 years — which caused agency reaction, repudiating the threat.

“From the moment someone commits a criminal act, they have to present themselves to win a medal,” he said, alongside supporters.

The authorization to use the vaccine was released on Thursday (15). The resolution calls for children to receive two doses of 10 micrograms within 21 days.

On Saturday (18), the Minister of Health informed that he would establish a longer procedure to authorize the immunization of this public and said that he will only release the decision on the vaccination of children on January 5th.

According to Queiroga, the longer term is justified because it is a “sensitive topic” and that the “introduction of this product within the scope of public policy requires a deeper analysis”.

“They were so careful with those medications [hidroxicloroquina e ivermectina] that almost everyone took, and I did, but now what? With the vaccine you need to be especially careful, too. Let me be clear: don’t call me antivacin because we buy more than 300 million doses. I just say it’s voluntary,” explained Bolsonaro.

So far, Pfizer’s immunizing agent is the only one released for application in children and adolescents in the country. In the evaluation of the minister, the authorization of Anvisa alone is not enough for the vaccination to be put into practice.

On other occasions, the Bolsonaro government has tried to stop the vaccination of children under 18 years of age.

Despite the release, the start of vaccination cannot take place immediately because the Ministry of Health has not yet requested the purchase of specific doses for the age group. The forecast is to immunize 70 million children.

The government will also need to adjust Covid’s vaccination plan and organize the delivery of specific doses to the states.

Bolsonaro must remain on the coast of São Paulo until next Thursday (23). On the trip, he is accompanied by Pedro Guimarães, president of Caixa Econômica Federal, in addition to special advisors and a large entourage.