Minister says movement against vaccination is “criminal”

While doctors warn about the risks of Covid-19 vaccination in children, and the Pfizer vaccine leaflet itself recognizes side effects such as inflammation of the heart (myocarditis) and its lining (pericarditis), authorities such as Minister Silvio Almeida, of Human Rights and Citizenship (MDCH), condemn anyone who questions the mandatory vaccination. This “is criminal”, said the minister during a speech this Wednesday (7).

According to him, “it is unacceptable to make moves against vaccinating children” and it is necessary “to take action in relation to the irresponsible, anti-Brazilian people, who do not like children and adolescents and who are promoting this type of division”.

The statements were recorded during an event held by Conanda (National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents), while the minister cited the body’s historical agenda, such as the right to quality healthcare. Furthermore, it comes just a few weeks after the Covid-19 vaccine became mandatory in Brazil for children from six months of age, which has been contested by the opposition in Congress and raised alarms from experts.

“Without robust studies and time to prove the real effectiveness of the vaccine in children, as well as the effects of its long-term application, parliamentarians act in accordance with the defense of the lives and freedom of minors, as well as their guardians”, said deputy Gustavo Gayer (PL-GO), in a statement.

In an interview with Gazeta do Povo, infectious disease doctor Francisco Eduardo Cardoso, informed that the epidemiological scenario does not justify compulsory vaccination in children and that the selected age group is not classified as a “risk group” by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“In the Epidemiological Bulletin 152 itself, which the Ministry of Health used as a reference to justify this arbitrariness, it is written that only 120 children and young people aged 0 to 19 were diagnosed with Covid-19 between June and July 2023”, stated the doctor , while also mentioning that the cases do not characterize urgency.

Studies question the safety of vaccination against Covid-19 for children

Furthermore, Gazeta do Povo has already shown that there are doubts regarding the safety, especially of vaccines based on mRNA nanoparticles, such as Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty, for young children. In fact, a recent study found that up to half of those who develop myocarditis or pericarditis as a result of the vaccine remain with scars on their hearts a year later.

Another study carried out with more than four million young people aged six months to 17 years found that “seizures reached the statistical threshold for a sign [de segurança] in children aged two to four years” after vaccination.

Therefore, experts such as Vinay Prasad, physician and professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California in San Francisco, state that the data regarding the effects of vaccination on children still “are of very low credibility” and “I worry that vaccinating children of this age group could represent damage in the final calculation”, concluded the scientist.