After months of fraught confrontations with governors over Covid-19 measures, President Jair Bolsonaro (without a party) changed his tone on Wednesday (16). He said that the disagreements occurred with good intention.
At a ceremony at the Planalto Palace for the official launch of the national plan for immunization against the coronavirus, Bolsonaro, without a mask, embraced the character Zé Gotinha and waved to the governors.
In a speech at the same ceremony, the Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello, said that the states "will be treated equally and proportionately" and that "all Brazilians will receive the vaccine free of charge, equally, delivered at the vaccination post."
Pazuello also said that "we cannot play with the health of the Brazilian population" and that the country already has a "planned structure" for vaccination.
He avoided, however, citing dates for starting the vaccination. In an interview, he stated that the plan is under development and that the deadlines are subject to the registration of vaccines so as not to "sell illusions".
"What is this anxiety, what anguish for? We are the reference in Latin America. And we are working to account for it," he said.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon