BRAZIL (LifeSiteNews) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has compared vaccine passports to a leash used on dogs as his administration battles to prevent the discriminatory measure from being implemented at a federal level in Brazil.
The former army officer told reporters at Palácio do Planalto, Brasília on Tuesday that he would “rather die” than lose his freedom.
“We asked [the health regulator], why the health passport? What is that leash that they want to put on the Brazilian people? Where is our freedom? I would rather die than lose my freedom,” Bolsonaro said.
Following the comments, Brazilian health minister Marcelo Queiroga confirmed the administration had ruled out requiring a COVID-19 injection certificate for travelers entering the country, telling reporters that “people cannot be discriminated between vaccinated and unvaccinated to impose restrictions.”
“Sometimes it is better to lose your life than to lose your freedom,” Queiroga added.
National health regulator Anvisa had recommended requiring proof-of-vaccination from foreign travelers at airports, with the Brazilian Supreme Court determining the government had to set out its position this week.
Powerful nations of the world, including China, the UK, and Canada are discussing plans to require so-called 'vaccine passports' as a condition for travel, and possibly to restrict entry to shopping and entertainment venues.
Israel has already put in place a system to discriminate against those who choose not to take the COVID vaccine, and, in the United States, Joe Biden has signed a new executive order which could pave the way for the implementation of a 'vaccine passport' system. [See more below.]
This kind of medical dictatorship must be resisted, and therefore, we must act quickly before these authoritarian notions take root and spread!
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition to SAY NO to government 'vaccine passports.' Tell your legislators to respect your freedom not to vaccinate without fear of repercussion.
People should not have to live in fear of government retribution for refusing a vaccine which is being rushed to market by Big Pharma and their fellow-travelers in NGOs, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
It would be intolerable and immoral for the government to coerce someone, and their family, to take a COVID vaccine against their will just so they can do their weekly grocery shopping, go to a high school soccer game, travel on public transport, or visit their relatives who live in a different part of the country, or overseas.
Medical freedom must be respected in principle and also in practice.
So, it is now time that our policy-makers listen to all voices involved in this vital conversation, and start to represent those who will not tolerate being punished, restricted, or tracked for refusing an experimental vaccine.
Simply put, legislatures must begin to act as legislatures again.
Questions must be asked. Hearings and investigations must be held. And, the legislatures of each state and country must return to the business of representing the people who voted for them, assuming their rightful place as the originator of legislation.
We will no longer accept the dictates of executive branches without question. And, neither can we accept the dictates of some doctors who seem detached from reality and from science.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition which asks national political leaders (as well as state and provincial legislators in the U.S. and Canada) to pledge to respect the rights of those who refuse a COVID vaccine, and NOT introduce 'vaccine passports,' or any other system which would discriminate on the basis of taking the COVID vaccine.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'Biden executive order directs government to evaluate ‘feasibility’ of vaccine passports' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/biden-executive-order-directs-government-to-evaluate-feasibility-of-vaccine-passports
'China lobbies WHO to develop COVID vaccine passports for all nations' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/china-lobbies-who-to-develop-covid-vaccine-passports-for-all-nations
'UK advances plans for vaccine passports to travel, enter stores' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/uk-advances-plans-for-vaccine-passports-to-travel-enter-stores
'Canada’s health minister: Gov’t ‘working on the idea of vaccine passports’' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/canadas-health-minister-govt-working-on-the-idea-of-vaccine-passports
'European Commission president plans to introduce vaccine passports' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/european-commission-president-plans-to-introduce-vaccine-passports
'Israel’s ‘Green Passport’ vaccination program has created a ‘medical Apartheid,’ distraught citizens say' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/israels-green-passport-vaccination-program-has-created-a-medical-apartheid-distraught-citizens-say
'LA schools to track every kid using Microsoft’s ‘Daily Pass’ COVID app' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/la-schools-to-track-every-kid-using-microsofts-daily-pass-covid-app
Announcing their decision to reject the COVID vaccine passes, the Bolsonaro administration did however create a new requirement for unvaccinated travelers to quarantine from Saturday onwards at a location of their choosing for five days before undergoing a PCR test.
If the test result is negative, unvaccinated travelers can then “take advantage of our great Brazil,” Queiroga said.
Until now, Brazilian immigration authorities had only required proof of a negative PCR test to enter the country, with no quarantine requirements imposed.
The federal rejection of vaccine passports has been complicated by the state of Sao Paolo’s planned adoption of the passes, with Governor João Doria insisting foreign travelers arriving into the state’s airports will be required to show proof of vaccination starting December 15.
Sao Paolo’s three main airports currently receive two-thirds of Brazil’s inbound international travelers, handing Doria the ability to implement a de facto vaccine passport requirement for most arrivals to Brazil after they have passed through federal border controls.
“Brazil cannot become a tourist paradise for deniers. The denial of this country only exists in the minds of this minister [of health] and the president,” Doria said in response to the Bolsonaro administration’s rejection of vaccine passports.
“If by December 15 the federal government does not adopt the passport, São Paulo will adopt it,” he added.
Not the first showdown between Bolsonaro and Doria, the president last year labeled the governor a “lunatic” for defending the idea of mandatory vaccines.
“Forcing people to take the vaccine or say that who doesn’t take it cannot get a passport, have a public job – that’s dictatorship,” the Brazilian president said in November 2020. “Whoever defends that is a dictator, or a false dictator that is willing to do business with the lives of others.”
Bolsonaro, a former governor of Rio de Janeiro, also announced in October this year that he will not get the abortion-tainted vaccine because he already has the “highest immunization” after recovering from COVID-19 in July 2020.
“I decided not to take the vaccine anymore. I’m seeing new studies … I already have the highest immunization. I am going to get the vaccine for what?” he asked. “It would be the same thing as playing $10 in the lottery to win $2. It doesn’t make sense.”
“For me, freedom comes before everything else. If a citizen doesn’t want to get vaccinated, that’s his right and that’s the end of it,” Bolsonaro added.
In September 2021, Bolsonaro was photographed eating pizza standing on a New York City sidewalk, where proof of vaccination is required for indoor dining. He had been in town for the United Nations general assembly.
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