Brasilia, Oct 13 (EFE) .- The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, is relying on "new studies" to refuse to be vaccinated against covid and ensures that he is protected because his immunization "is at the top".
"Regarding the vaccine, I decided not to take it. I'm seeing new studies," Bolsonaro said in statements to the Jovem Pan radio station made on Tuesday night and that were reproduced on Wednesday by other local media.
"Why am I going to get a vaccine? It would be the same as playing 10 reais to the lottery to win 2," he insisted.
The president's statements follow the denialist line he has maintained since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, and set a bad example in a country that has the second highest number of deaths from covid-19, after the United States.
Unlike its president, 70% of Brazilians have already received the first dose of the vaccine and 47% have the complete scheme. COVID-19 has already caused more than 600,000 deaths in Brazil and infected 21.6 million people.
Bolsonaro did not specify what "new studies" he was referring to to rule out being vaccinated against the coronavirus, but reiterated that the fact of having been infected by covid ensures that he has enough antibodies against that disease, contrary to the opinion of experts.
In previous statements, Bolsonaro, 66, has said that he would be the last Brazilian to be vaccinated against covid, an opinion that seems to have changed now by stating that he will never receive the immunizer.
However, his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, did recently receive the vaccine in the United States, drawing criticism in Brazil for turning to another nation's public health.
"For me, freedom is first and foremost. If the citizen does not want to be vaccinated, he is in his right and that's it," Bolsonaro insisted.