COVID-19: Brazilian government planning to allow vaccinated people to not wear masks

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said that the health minister was preparing a plan so that vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks. Bolsonaro added that quarantines are for people who have been infected. He had previously criticised state governors and mayors in the country who imposed lockdown to control the spread of the virus. 

Brazil planning to allow vaccinated people to not wear masks

On a weekly webcast to his supporters, Bolsonaro said that hydroxychloroquine was effective in reducing COVID-19 deaths in Brazil. He added that the deaths have been over-reported by including fatalities that were caused due to other health issues, according to AAP. Bolsonaro said that they have been making a plan that would allow vaccinated people to not wear masks in Brazil. Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said that the Brazilian President had told him to study on the use of masks in Brazil. Brazil has registered more than 460,000 deaths and it has the third-highest number of coronavirus cases at more than 16 million.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been under criticism for his handling of the pandemic. A few days back, protests had taken place across Brazil in a bid to demand the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro over his management of the COVID-19 crisis that has claimed nearly half a million lives in the country. According to The Guardian, thousands of people gathered in front of Congress in the capital, Brasilia, and called for the president’s impeachment and demanded more vaccines. The demonstrations also turned out in more than 200 cities and towns for what is the biggest anti-Bolsonaro mobilisation since Brazil’s COVID-19 outbreak began. The recent protest piled pressure on Bolsonaro, while the country’s Senate is already holding an inquiry into his government’s handling of the pandemic and the slow roll-out of the vaccine programme. 

IMAGE: AP