Yahoo Finance Jair Bolsonaro plans to flout New York vaccine rules at UN meeting
The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has signaled that he will snub New York City vaccination rules when he travels to next week’s UN general assembly claiming not to have received a Covid jab.
Bolsonaro is the only G20 leader who publicly claims not to have been vaccinated against a disease that has killed nearly 600,000 Brazilians, although the decision to place a 100-year secrecy order on his immunization records means many citizens doubt that claim.
Related: Russia slams New York’s vaccine requirement for UN general assembly
On Thursday night Bolsonaro reiterated his supposed decision to decline a vaccine despite New York City health authorities having said delegates must show proof of vaccination if they plan to eat indoors or enter the general assembly hall.
“Why would I get vaccinated?” Brazil’s far-right president declared during an online broadcast, claiming his antibody levels were so high that it was unnecessary. Bolsonaro tested positive for Covid-19 in July 2020.
“Once everyone has been vaccinated, I’ll decide my future,” Bolsonaro added, using his finger to wipe his nose.
The Brazilian leader’s appearance at the UN meeting appears assured after the secretary general, António Guterres, admitted it would be impossible to deny access to unvaccinated heads of state. Delegates will not be required to show proof of immunization before attending the event, whose opening speech will be given by Bolsonaro on Tuesday.
But Bolsonaro’s decision to brush off Mayor Bill de Blasio’s vaccine mandates has sparked domestic criticism and is unlikely to help the Brazilian leader in his reported quest to win over the world at next week’s assembly.
“Just guess which politician hasn’t been vaccinated and is going to expose his country and citizens to yet another international embarrassment?” tweeted Erika Kokay, a congresswoman from the leftist Workers’ party (PT).
When Brazil’s pro-Trump president made his last in-person appearance at the UN general assembly, in 2019, he offered a cantankerous 30-minute speech in which he attacked the media and the left.
Some reports suggest Bolsonaro plans to strike a softer tone this year as part of efforts to mend relations with Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, and appease the world ahead of November’s Cop26 climate summit. A report from CNN Brasil, whose coverage is often sympathetic to Brazil’s president, claimed Bolsonaro planned to make a “pro-Biden speech” taking in themes such as climate change, sustainable development and the fight against deforestation.
Experts are doubtful such a rhetorical shift will convince the international community given the damage done to the environment since Bolsonaro took office in January 2019. “I really don’t think the world will buy this so easily,” Suely Araújo, the former head of Brazil’s environmental agency, Ibama, said in a recent interview.
