In the intervention, which lasted about five minutes, Jair Bolsonaro highlighted a series of measures taken by the government in various fields of work and stressed that it “did not force anyone to stay at home, did not close businesses and did not close churches or schools” during the pandemic.
I deeply feel every soul lost in our country. Today [terça-feira]We have reached 100 million doses of vaccines distributed to states and municipalities. Brazil is the fourth most polluted country in the world. This year, all Brazilians, who wish to be vaccinated, will be vaccinated,” he said.
However, the COVID-19 vaccination campaign is progressing slowly in Brazil, where only 10.6% of Brazilians (22.6 million people) have received the full vaccination dose.
Bolsonaro also mentioned a technology transfer agreement between Brazil’s state-owned Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Viocruz) and AstraZeneca to produce vaccines in the country.
The head of state indicated that the agreement signed on Tuesday will allow Brazil to enter the “elite” of vaccine-producing countries.
Bolsonaro reiterated that he remains “within the four lines of the constitution” and stressed that he did not act as governors or mayors who have taken drastic measures to limit the spread of the virus.
“Our government plays within the four lines of the constitution, and regards the right to come and go, the right to work and the free exercise of religion as non-negotiable. Denying the seriousness of the COVID-19 virus, which he described as a “little flu,” said Bolsonaro, both of our ministers. The 22 consider their freedom the greatest good for our people.
The president also highlighted economic figures released this week and stated that expectations are that Brazil’s gross domestic product will grow by about 4% this year, recovering from its pre-pandemic level.
“We finished 2020 with more official jobs than 2019. (…) We conducted auctions for highways, ports and airports. We brought the Internet to more than eight million Brazilians, most of them to the northern and northeastern regions,” he said.
“The stock exchange has broken a historical record, the Brazilian currency is getting stronger, and we are advancing in the difficult process of privatization. (…) State-owned companies, in the past, caused losses estimated at tens of billions of reals due to systematic and widespread corruption. Today they are profitable. ( …) Only in the first quarter of this year did the economy show its strength, being among the world’s most developed countries, ”he added.
Bolsonaro also referred to the holding of the Copa America soccer tournament in Brazil, and ensured that the same protocols were followed for the Copa Libertadores and World Cup qualifiers.
During the broadcast, the Brazilian president was the target of a “pot” in several cities across the country, as residents, with the sound of strikes on metal objects, such as pots, demanded the departure of Jair Bolsonaro’s authority.
Bolsonaro’s comments came just four days after hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Saturday to demand the president’s impeachment and massive vaccinations in the country.
The total number of deaths in Brazil, one of the countries worst affected by the epidemic in the world, reached 467,706 deaths and 16,720,081 cases of the Covid-19 virus, and experts expect a third wave of the disease in the coming weeks.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused at least 3,681,985 deaths worldwide, resulting in more than 171 million cases, according to an AFP tally.
In Portugal, 17,026 people have died out of 850,262 confirmed cases, according to the latest bulletin from the Directorate General of Health.
The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus that was discovered in late 2019 in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
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