Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in a fresh attack on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, that has shown 95% efficacy in Phase 3 clinical trials, said that the vaccine may cause someone to turn into a crocodile.
“In the Pfizer contract it’s very clear: ‘We’re not responsible for any side effects.’ If you turn into crocodile it’s your problem,” he said on Thursday.
He further said, “If you become superhuman, if a woman starts to grow a beard or if a man starts to speak in an effeminate voice, they (drug manufacturers) will not have anything to do with it.”
He also insisted that he will not be getting the vaccine even though his country has begun a mass inoculation program. He also said that the vaccine would be free but not compulsory. However, on Thursday the Supreme Court ruled that the vaccine would be compulsory but one wouldn’t be forced to take it. That would mean that authorities reserve the right to fine people or banning them from public places altogether for not being vaccinated. The vaccine is currently undergoing tests in the country.
This is only the latest in Jair Bolsonaro’s tryst with the coronavirus. The far-right President has been sceptical of the virus itself ever since it first emerged, referring to as a “little flu”.
The President himself had gotten infected with the virus in July and had quarantined in the presidential palace.
Brazil has so far recorded more than 7 million cases of the coronavirus and almost 1,85,000 people have died due to it. By number of cases, Brazil is the third worst affected by the coronavirus, while its President maintains a rabid scepticism.