Unvaccinated against COVID, Brazilian President Bolsonaro eats pizza on NY sidewalk

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meet, was made to eat pizza on the sidewalk as he was unvaccinated. At present, the American city requires proof of vaccination for anyone to eat inside an eatery or a restaurant. Pertaining to the same laws, Bolsonaro was not allowed to enter a pizzeria and had his meal standing on the roadside along with members of his delegation. 

“Luxury dinner in New York,” Brazil’s secretariat minister Luiz Eduardo Ramos alongside a photo of Bolsonaro enjoying a pizza slice outside with other officials. 

The right-winger has not only heavily underplayed the COVID pandemic but has also opposed immunisation against lethal respiratory infection. Bolsonaro, who had already been infected by coronavirus once, had said earlier that he would be the last Brazilian to be inoculated with the COVID vaccine. Notably, Brazil has reported a total of 21,247,094 positive cases of coronavirus, making it the third most affected nation in the world. 

Many Brazilians have already been inoculated against the virus, while several big cities in Brazil have started vaccine booster shots. Although the use of Sinovac vaccines is now suspended, the vast majority of Brazilians are administered the same China-made Sinovac vaccine. Earlier, North Korea had also rejected around three million doses of Chinese Sinvoc vaccines, claiming that the country does not require them and the vaccines should be shipped to countries in greater need, reported the UNICEF.

76th session of UN General Assembly 

The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, September 14 opened its 76th session under President Abdulla Shahid and in the presence of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Pointing out the challenges faced in the year in the form of the climate crisis, conflicts, and the COVID-19 pandemic,  Abdulla Shahid said, "It has been a tragic and challenging year, but this is a new session.”

"We can fall back on the comfort and predictability of systems and procedures, of the United Nations machinery that fills our days, or we can choose to push forward and turn the page. We can choose to write a new chapter," said the President of the General Assembly. He added, "Let us dare to dream and let us dare to hope, to embrace the presidency of hope."

Image: MinLuizRamos/Twitter