Anvisa asks servers for police protection after new threats

Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) has again requested police protection from members of the entity who participated in the approval of the application of the Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 in children aged 5 to 11 years. The request was made by official letter this Sunday (19).

According to the agency, the request had already been made when the first threats were made, but attacks on social networks have intensified in the last 24 hours.

“Anvisa informs that, in view of the threats of violence received and increasingly intensified in the last 24 hours, letters were issued this Sunday (12/19) reiterating the requests for police protection to members of the Agency. Such requests had already been made. last November when the Agency received the first threats,” he said in a statement.

“The growth of threats makes further investigations necessary to identify the perpetrators and determine responsibilities,” he continued.

The official letter with the request was addressed to the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, but, according to Anvisa, the document will also be delivered to the Chief Minister of the Institutional Security office, the Minister of Justice, the Director General of the PF ( Federal Police) and the regional superintendent of the PF in the Federal District.

“Even in the face of an eventual and future reception of the claims, the Agency expresses great concern in relation to the safety of its staff, in view of the large number of Anvisa employees spread throughout Brazil. It is not possible to rule out at this time that such servers are the target of cowardly and criminal actions,” stated Anvisa.

“These facts [ameaças em redes sociais] they have increased the concern and fear of Directors and civil servants about their physical integrity and that of their families, and have generated an evident apprehension that acts of violence could occur at any time,” said the letter.

The agency also stated that “it will not publish the attachments that materialize the threats received so as not to expose the personal data of those involved, however, all information has been forwarded to the responsible authorities” and that it continues its mission to protect the health of the citizen.

Earlier, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said he had asked the Minister of Health, 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 president once again reinforced his speech from three days earlier, when he said he had asked Anvisa to disclose the names of the technicians responsible for approving Pfizer’s immunizing agent to vaccinate children aged 5 to 11 years — which caused the agency to react, rejecting the threat , and incited attacks from 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”.

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.