Despite his country being one of the world's worst hit by coronavirus with more than 185,000 deaths, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he was not going to get the vaccine, the New York Post reported over the weekend.
Bolsonaro, who contracted COVID-19 earlier this year, shocked even his most devoted backers by declaring to a crowd in Porto Seguro that "I'm not going to get [the vaccine]. Some say I'm setting a bad example. Hey a--hole, oh idiot, what are you saying about the bad example, I already had the virus, I already have antibodies. Why should I get the vaccine again?" according to the news service UOL.
Bolsonaro's rant came despite launching Brazil's national vaccination rollout just a few days earlier.
He also harshly criticized Pfizer's vaccine because the drug company exempted itself from liability in case of side effects, stressing that its contract states very clearly that Pfizer is "not responsible for any side effect. If you become an alligator, it is your problem. … And what is worse, tampering with people's immune system," according to the Post.
The Brazilian president continued, according to Business Insider, that "If you become superhuman, if a woman starts to grow a beard or if a man starts to speak with an effeminate voice, they [Pfizer] won't have anything to do with it."
Bolsonaro has played down the coronavirus throughout the pandemic, such as by referring to it in May as a "little flu."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.