Coronavirus

Bolsonaro once again touts ineffective drugs against Covid

bolsonaro drugs covid
President Jair Bolsonaro. Photo: Clauber Cleber Caetano/PR

Just two days after a deputy prosecutor general asked the Supreme Court to shelve investigations against Jair Bolsonaro for pandemic-related crimes, the president rediscovered his penchant for Covid misinformation. Addressing members of the Brazilian Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), Mr. Bolsonaro touted ineffective drugs against Covid, and was applauded by the physicians in attendance.

Mr. Bolsonaro’s endorsement of antimalarial drug chloroquine led to accusations of charlatanism and causing a deadly epidemic by a Senate committee investigating the government’s pandemic response.

The Brazilian president again pinned the blame on state-level administrations for the country’s shortcomings in containing the coronavirus spread. 

Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga, who was at the event, raised concerns about the monkeypox outbreak, recently declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. 

As of this week, Brazil had the sixth-highest number of cases, with 813 reported infections. The WHO believes, however, that the country may be underreporting cases.