On Tuesday 8 December, the current Minister of Health General Eduardo Pazuello once again displayed his subservience to the Bolsonaro government’s policies of Coronavirus denial. Perhaps best known for his coordination of the 2018 federal military intervention in Brazil’s northernmost state of Roraima, General Pazuello made it clear that he is in no hurry to solve the pandemic in Brazil. A week earlier, he announced a vaccination timetable that would stretch across 2021 and in which at least half of the population would still not be immunized by year’s end.
The objective of this tardiness is evident: until vaccination is universalized, community transmission will continue, which will allow the government to continue “passando a boiada” (letting the whole herd pass), that is, pushing ahead with a raft of counterreforms and attacks on public services and labor rights. It is a criminal policy. Prolonging and aggravating the pandemic has been the axis of the Bolsonaro government’s policy since March, and it continues to be so now. At present, this approach involves the exclusion of most vaccines of proven efficacy or in the final stages of development, and the restriction of negotiations to the purchase of just one vaccine.
The construction of the tragedy
The Bolsonaro government is directly responsible for the scale of the tragedy in Brazil. Since March, and especially after Bolsonaro’s nationally televised address on 24 March, all the initiatives of the Bolsonaro government have sought to accelerate infection rates by minimizing the pandemic, propagating fake news, taking part in large scale gatherings, and promoting ineffective drugs. In theory, this policy would be justified if the intention was to overcome the pandemic by achieving “collective immunity”. It is no coincidence that Bolsonaro has stated dozens of times that this problem would only be “solved” when 70% of the population had been infected.
Officially, 3% of the Brazilian population is now infected. Even if the actual number of cases is seven times the number of confirmed cases (as most of the surveys regarding the underreporting of COVID-19 in Brazil suggest), the high number of infections means that we are still a long way away from any stabilization taking place. We have officially reached 180,000 confirmed fatalities due to COVID, and that is without taking another 68,923 deaths caused by unspecified Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome into account (numbers from 1 December, the date of the last available data). These deaths are almost entirely due to COVID. Therefore, we are up to approximately 250,000 deaths, and still a long way away from immunization via infection.
The pandemic in Brazil at this moment
Brazil is living through a dramatic time. Even with insufficient testing, we have seen four weeks of accelerated growth in the number of cases. There were 118,101 registered cases in Epidemiological Week 45 (1 to 7 November), and 286,905 cases in week 49 (29 November to 5 December). That is a growth of 143%. This growth is occurring simultaneously in almost all states of the nation. To make matters worse, we are on the verge of the collapse of the health system in several parts of the country. Right now, at least ten capital cities already have over 80% of their hospital beds occupied, and in Rio de Janeiro almost 500 COVID patients are waiting to be hospitalized.
Even before the start of summer, as we approach 50,000 new cases a day, the discourse of denial retains its strength, and the maintenance of a “normality” that entails Christmas shopping, end-of-year parties, and summer vacations is defended. In other words, the maintenance and expansion of travel, crowds and gatherings. This is a terribly explosive combination given the stage that we now find ourselves in.
The urgency of vaccination
There is stiff competition among the many countries that right now are negotiating simultaneously with the various companies that produce vaccines. Quite logically, all countries want to have as many doses of the vaccine as possible, and have them as soon as possible. The haste with which they are acting is justified. But it should be even greater in Brazil, the country which has just registered the second-highest number of new cases in the world.
Nonetheless, this is clearly not the government’s priority. While Bolsonaro opens a clothing exhibition, Pazuello reiterates a vaccination proposal that is vague, inconsistent, and insufficient. Aside from its unacceptable flaws (such as the lack of planning for the acquisition of basic inputs such as needles), its greatest deficiency is its exclusive gamble on a single vaccine, the Astrazeneca vaccine from the University of Oxford. Even if everything goes perfectly, this would still be insufficient, because the number of doses needed will only be obtained by getting vaccines from different companies, as they complete their research and prove their safety and efficacy. That is why practically all governments are conducting simultaneous negotiations with several companies.
However, the vaccine “chosen” by Bolsonaro and Pazuello is precisely the one with the most problems, the one with inconsistencies and errors in the research process, such as the administration of a “half dose” due to a dosing error. In this situation, the correct procedure would be to redo the whole research process, which would inevitably delay its release by several months. Nevertheless, Pazuello has announced the start of vaccinations with this vaccine for March. This is a clear indication of the falsehood of their alleged concerns for safety and scientific proof, and demonstrates that their choice is strictly political and ideological.
The vaccination policy has to be national
In the absence of concrete national policies, proposals for localized alternatives are understandable. However, these are not the best alternative. We need to stop community transmission of the virus as soon as possible, and only a universal national vaccination policy can produce this result.
There are of course limits on dose numbers, and that is why negotiating with all vaccine-producing companies simultaneously is crucial. For this reason, vaccination must be carried out in phases, with priority given to the most vulnerable. However, it is unacceptable to envisage that the entire population will not be immunized by the end of 2021. This position makes it explicit that the intention is to indefinitely prolong the pandemic and its disastrous social, political, and economic effects, with the expropriation of social and labor rights above all. Even Bolsonaro’s talk about “preserving the economy” is not sustainable, for no matter how hard they try to impose an artificial “normality”, the costs involved in prolonging the pandemic are enormous, much higher even than those needed to invest in immunizing the population.
Perhaps the only correct statement that Pazuello has made is his recent one about vaccination policy having to be national. However, it is undeniable that this statement hides (very badly) the intention of simply undermining the harm reduction measures adopted by the states. This is evidenced by the absurd statement that the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) would only authorize the use of COVID vaccines at least 60 days after their results were published – a criterion that seems to only apply to “enemy” vaccines, since in the same speech he promised vaccination with the Astrazeneca vaccine from March.
São Paulo governor and Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) member João Dória has clearly tried to take political advantage of the situation, presenting himself as “rational” and “concerned about the health situation”. After being targeted by Bolsonaristas for advocating some containment measures, Dória began pushing for an acceleration of reopening, without any reasonable technical criteria for such a push. More recently, he concealed infection data during the elections, which produced a false impression regarding the stabilization of the pandemic. It is also irresponsible to set the start date for vaccinations with a vaccine that, although promising, has not yet concluded its tests. What clearly moves Dória is the promotion of his political career, and not any effective opposition to Bolsonarista policy, a fact which is proved by his identification with the agenda of attacks on social and labor rights.
The Unified Health System (SUS) is the heritage of all Brazilians. Its experience in developing national vaccination plans is impressive. Few countries in the world have the resources and experience we have with vaccination in Brazil. The technical and professional conditions already exist. All that is needed is the political intent and efficient planning. The failure of the Bolsonaro government makes it criminally responsible for carrying out a crime against the lives of Brazilians, a crime which cannot be tolerated. The imposition and enforcement of a national vaccination policy is essential, urgent, and necessary. It is vital that all workers and oppressed, through their various forms of organization, place this demand front and center. The fight for a national vaccination plan, as well as the maintenance and increasing of emergency aid, is urgent. It is a struggle for life itself, and in the name of life, we will if necessary make a veritable “Vaccine Revolt”* against Bolsonaro.
# Vacina para todos já
(# Vaccines for all now)
# Por uma política nacional de vacinação, urgente e necessária
(# For an urgent and necessary national vaccination policy)
# Pela valorização do SUS
(# For the appreciation of the SUS)
# Fora Bolsonaro
(# Bolsonaro Out)
* “Vaccine Revolt”: A reference to the November 1904 uprising in Rio de Janeiro that followed the implementation of a mandatory vaccination campaign.
This article is an English translation of “Vacina para todos já! É urgente uma política nacional de vacinação”, Esquerda Online (EOL), 10/12/2020.
Translation: Bobby Sparks
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