Brazil鈥檚 President Jair Bolsonaro holds his protective face mask during a ceremony at the Planalto Palace, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Brasilia, Brazil, June 10, 2021. | PHOTO: REUTERS/Adriano Machado
RIO DE JANEIRO 鈥� President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday downplayed the Omicron coronavirus variant amid a surge in hard-hit Brazil, ruling out new containment measures as he defended the pursuit of herd immunity through widespread infection.
In the country with the world鈥檚 second-highest Covid-19 death toll, Bolsonaro said the arrival of the Omicron variant posed little threat, even as experts warn of growing pressure on hospitals.
鈥淥micron has not killed anyone,鈥� the coronavirus-skeptic president said, after municipal authorities in the state of Goias announced the country鈥檚 first death due to the new variant.
鈥淭he person who died in Goias already had serious problems, notably with the lungs,鈥� which is what killed them, Bolsonaro told the Gazeta Brazil.
Experts say the variant is already the most widespread in Brazil.
Bolsonaro cited provisional evidence of Omicron being more contagious but less deadly than some earlier variants.
鈥淪ome even say it is a vaccinating virus. Some smart and serious people, not aligned to the pharmaceutical industry, say Omicron is welcome and could herald the end of the pandemic,鈥� the far-right president added.
Herd immunity
Asked in Geneva about Bolsonaro鈥檚 statements, the director of the World Health Organization鈥檚 emergency program, Mike Ryan, said, 鈥淣o virus that kills is welcome, especially if death and suffering can be avoided.鈥�
According to the Brazilian UOL news outlet, Ryan added: 鈥淭he fact that the virus is less severe does not mean that the disease is mild.鈥�
Bolsonaro insisted that Brazil鈥檚 economy could not afford another lockdown, and defended the controversial approach of allowing people to get infected for so-called herd immunity against the virus to take root.
鈥淗erd immunity is a reality. A person immunized with the virus has a lot more antibodies than a vaccinated person,鈥� Bolsonaro insisted.
鈥淢e, for example, I am not vaccinated and I am very well.鈥�
Bolsonaro recovered from a coronavirus infection in July 2020, has said he will not get vaccinated, and has opposed health passes given to vaccinated people to access certain places as a breach of freedom.
In October, a Brazilian Senate commission approved a damning report that recommends criminal charges, including for crimes against humanity, be brought against the president for his Covid policies.
He has had social media posts deleted numerous times for spreading misinformation and inciting people to violate social distancing and mask-wearing policies.
Bolsonaro has suggested vaccines could turn people into 鈥渃rocodiles,鈥� and has endorsed the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment, despite scientific studies showing it does not work.
Covid-19 has claimed more than 620,000 lives in Brazil, a toll second only to the United States.
The health ministry said Tuesday the country had registered more than 70,700 new cases in 24 hours 鈥� a rate eight times higher than two weeks earlier.
At the deadliest peak of the pandemic last year, hospitals were pushed to the brink of collapse in many areas, and the daily death toll at one point exceeded 4,000.
The vast country of 213 million people was slow to start its vaccination campaign under a president who had minimized Covid-19 as a 鈥渓ittle flu.鈥�