“Prepare your arms,” tweeted São Paulo Governor João Doria on Twitter, upon announcing that his administration would bring forward the state’s vaccination timetable. “By September 15, the entire population over 18 will already have gotten a first [coronavirus] vaccine dose,” he promised. “Planning, work, and a sense of urgency. Viva, life!”
Unsurprisingly, given quarrels between the Jair Bolsonaro administration and Mr. Doria over vaccines, this weekend’s announcement caused a public spat with the federal government. Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga replied to the governor’s tweet, saying he was only able to vaccinate people in São Paulo because he had vaccines from the federal government. “Jealous, much?” Mr. Doria fired back.
Indeed, João Doria is just the most prominent example of a Brazilian governor boasting about his state’s vaccination progress, in a mad dash to get the country’s population immunized. In all, at least eight of Brazil’s 27 governors released updated vaccination schedules in recent days — all of which are opponents to far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, and some could even face off against him in the 2022 election.
Besides Mr. Doria, Eduardo Leite of Rio Grande do Sul has also openly discussed running for the presidency next year. Colleagues in the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, they will be vying for the nomination between now and 2022.
Elsewhere, Wellington Dias and Flávio Dino — governors of Piauí and Maranhão, respectively — belong to traditional opposition parties and will be expected to back former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against Mr. Bolsonaro next year.
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