"COVID-19, Malaria Medicine More Effective Than Vaccine"... Brazil Where Even the President Voices 'Vaccine Opposition'

"Criticism That 'Health Ministry's Behavior Could Cause System Collapse'"

A medical staff member is aliquoting the Pfizer vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination center. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brazilian Ministry of Health, which has opposed vaccination, has now released a document stating that hydroxychloroquine, a drug similar to the malaria medication chloroquine, is more effective in responding to COVID-19 than vaccines.

According to Brazilian media on the 23rd (local time), the Ministry of Health included in the document released the day before the opinion that hydroxychloroquine, a drug similar to the malaria medication chloroquine, is more effective in responding to COVID-19 than vaccines.

Marcelo Queiroga is the Minister of Health of Brazil.
Photo by Yonhap News

Through the document, the Ministry of Health stated, "Hydroxychloroquine is superior in efficacy and safety in preventing the spread of COVID-19, and vaccines have not achieved such results."

This also supports the position of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has expressed resistance to vaccines and has insisted on using scientifically unproven hydroxychloroquine and the antiparasitic drug ivermectin for treating COVID-19 patients.

In response, Brazil's health regulatory agency, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), immediately refuted the Ministry of Health's document. Meiruze de Freitas, director of Anvisa, said, "All vaccines approved for use in Brazil have undergone multiple phases of clinical trials under strict regulations," adding, "We hope not to go against the universal and consistent norms of the international community that respect life."

Professors from the University of S?o Paulo's School of Public Health expressed concern in a statement, saying, "The Ministry of Health's policy is based on ideology, distorted information, and ignorance of science," and pointed out that "such behavior by the Ministry of Health could ultimately lead to the collapse of the healthcare system."

Meanwhile, since the COVID-19 pandemic, President Bolsonaro and the scientific community have clashed several times. On December 27 of last year, President Bolsonaro clearly opposed vaccinating children, stating, "My daughter is 11 years old, but she will not receive the COVID-19 vaccine."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.