This Saturday (11), new rules for the entry of travelers into Brazil come into force. Those who arrive on international flights and are not immunized against Covid-19 will have to present the disease test, carried out up to 72 hours before boarding, and comply with a five-day quarantine.
At the land border, proof of vaccination or negative test will be required.
The norms are contained in an ordinance published this Thursday (9) in the Official Gazette of the Union, signed by ministers Ciro Nogueira (Casa Civil), Marcelo Queiroga (Health), Anderson Torres (Justice) and Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas (Infrastructure).
The update takes place in the midst of the emergence of omicron, a variant classified as of concern by the WHO (World Health Organization).
There was an expectation that the government could consider Anvisa’s recommendation to bar travelers who spent the last 14 days in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, which did not happen this time. Due to the advancement of the new variant on the continent, flights from six countries are already banned.
The new rules for passenger air transport follow recommendations presented by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) on November 12th.
The portion of the ordinance on land border control diverges from Anvisa’s suggestion, which wanted to bar non-vaccinated people. Even so, the agency’s summit considers the balance of the ordinance to be positive and assesses that facilitating the entry of vaccinated people will encourage travelers to immunize themselves or drive away from anti-vaccination tourism.
Government officials say the new ordinance was not agreed upon at the time of the press announcement, last Tuesday (7). There were doubts about how to put the measures on paper without letting it sound like the government would demand a “vaccine passport”, a term prohibited in the Pocket Narist vocabulary.
In the reading of government technicians, Planalto made an effort to change the rules and avoid answering for omission in court or TCU (Court of Accounts of the Union), but controlling the damage to Bolsonaro denial banners.
Authorities who followed the discussion still have doubts about how the inspection of quarantines will be carried out. They recall that the Ministry of Health has not even managed to put in place a national testing strategy.
Under the new rule, the idea is that travelers on international flights continue filling out a form required by Anvisa, called DSV (Traveller’s Health Declaration), before boarding.
In this document, they must indicate where they will spend the quarantine in Brazil, if they are not vaccinated, and make a commitment to cover the expenses during the isolation period — whoever presents a certificate of immunization will be released from the isolation period.
If the traveler tests positive at the end of the quarantine period, he/she must continue in isolation, following Health rules.
The vaccination certificate will also be presented to the airline before boarding. In addition, inspectors at Brazilian airports must check the documents of those who declared having received the vaccine.
Failure to comply with health rules can lead to foreigners being deported. Brazilians, on the other hand, can respond to civil, administrative and criminal actions.
Although the rules for flights are more lenient than those for countries that bar unvaccinated ones, technicians from Anvisa consider it an advance to charge for the certificate or quarantine at airports.
The agency has suggested since the end of 2020 that travelers should be quarantined, but the government has rejected the measure. At first, the recommendation was 14 days of isolation, but technicians consider five days reasonable. This is because only those who presented the negative exam at the end of this period would be released.
The agency still wants to move away from anti-vaccination tourism.
The rules on land borders are not considered ideal by Anvisa, which asked for the collection of the vaccination certificate or, as Plan B, a punctual opening of borders with more vaccinated countries.
The discussion about changes in border control began with Bolsonaro’s desire to reopen land borders, without charging for vaccination.
The Planalto demanded a demonstration from Anvisa. The agency proposed, on November 12, stricter rules, barring the unimmunized, as shown by the leaf. Even without being questioned, the agency also suggested that the government should start charging the vaccine at airports, or require a five-day quarantine.
To avoid displeasing Bolsonaro and his supporters, Planalto ignored the agency’s proposals for nearly a month. Part of the president’s assistants bet on awaiting a decision from the STF (Supreme Federal Court).
But pressure on the government grew, and ministers saw it as inevitable to tighten border controls. That’s because, in addition to Anvisa, TCU, DPU (Public Defender of the Union) and Fiocruz asked to charge travelers immunization certificate.
On Monday (6), Minister Luís Barroso, of the STF, gave Planalto 48 hours to comment on Anvisa’s request.
With all the charges added up, government technicians began to fear administrative or court actions for omission.
Representatives of the Ministry of Health began trying to convince Bolsonaro’s interlocutors that it is advantageous to ask for proof of vaccination. One of the arguments presented at interministerial meetings is that restrictions on entry into Brazil by land would be less harsh when releasing those who are immunized.
Today, these borders are practically closed, that is, an even more restrictive scenario than that proposed by Anvisa. This wing of the government also claimed that Brazil could face restrictions from other countries if it kept its borders and airports unprotected.
In a meeting on Tuesday (7), ministers told Bolsonaro that the decision was not just political, as it had increased the pressure and the risk of the government being held responsible for omission.
Mayors and governors also called for tighter border controls. Governor João Doria (PSDB) said that the “passport” will be adopted in the territory of São Paulo, if the Bolsonaro government does not cover the vaccination certificate by December 15th.
The government agreement to accept part of Anvisa’s suggestion was to try to remove Bolsonaro from the decision and also reinforce that the change does not impose a passport for the vaccine.
In the press announcement, in addition to criticizing the passport, Queiroga repeated Bolsonaro’s denial ideas. “This issue of vaccination has worked out because we respect individual freedoms. The president said a moment ago: sometimes it is better to lose your life than to lose your freedom,” said the minister.
Bolsonaro also reinforced the speech that the government rejects the “passport”, even though the idea is to create different rules for those who are not immunized. “I didn’t close any taverns. And I will never demand a passport for your vaccine,” the president told supporters on Wednesday (8).
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