translated from Spanish: Bolsonaro refused to buy vaccine from China against coronavirus

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro contradicted his own minister of health on Wednesday and rejected the purchase of 46 million doses of CoronaVac, a possible COVID-19 vaccine to be tested in the state of Sao Paulo.Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello announced the purchase Tuesday along with Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria, Bolsonaro’s enemy , whose state government is involved in the development of the vaccine. The cost of the acquisition was estimated at 2 billion reais ($360 million).” The Brazilian people will not be anyone’s guinea pig,” Bolsonaro said on their social media accounts. He added that the injection developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac does not yet finish its testing phase, as required by any possible drug. “My decision is not to buy such a vaccine,” the representative said. It is common practice for governments to buy promising vaccine doses to accumulate reserves if proven to be effective. That investment is generally non-refundable if the drug fails. Brazil accumulates more than 153,000 COVID-19 deaths—second only to the United States—and 5.2 million confirmed contagions, the third largest site in the world, behind the United States and India.Bolsonaro and Doria have had a pitted relationship since the start of the pandemic, and each took opposing stances on recommendations to stay at home and activity restrictions. The governor of Brazil’s most populous state listened to the advice of public health experts and took such measures, which the president criticized, arguing that the economic consequences could kill more than the disease itself. Doria, who supported Bolsonaro in the 2018 election, He has distanced himself from him and many see him as a potential contender for the elections of 2022.La legislator Bia Kicis, an ally of Bolsonaro, posted on social media another message that he said came directly from the president: “I warn you that we will not buy a single dose of vaccine from China and my government does not have any dialogue with Joao Doria on the coVID-19 issue.” In June, the Brazilian government announced an agreement with the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to buy 100 million doses of their possible coronavirus vaccine.

Original source in Spanish