Unvaccinated Bolsonaro has to eat on the street in New York

As a true right-wing populist, Jair Bolsonaro does not allow himself to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and he has been sowing doubts about the vaccines for months. His immune system, the Brazilian president says, is strong enough on its own to fight off the virus, especially after he contracted it himself last year.

In principle, he was therefore not welcome at the UN annual meeting in New York this week: it uses a so-called ‘honour system’ in which attendees promise that they have been fully vaccinated by activating their access pass.

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Bolsonaro appears to have violated that code by addressing the General Assembly on Tuesday, in the main hall. He only briefly commented on the pandemic, which has already claimed 590,000 lives in his country. However, he stated: “We support vaccination efforts. However, my government is not in favor of vaccination or health passports or other vaccine-related obligations.”

The president and his delegation also showed this aversion to corona passes outside the UN building. New York, which has a strict vaccination policy, was a very suitable backdrop for this. For example, the president demonstratively ate a pizza slice on the sidewalk of a pizzeria on Sunday evening – he was not welcome inside without a test certificate. A minister shared a photo of it on Twitter with the only comment: “Dine chic in NYC.”

Link to puncture locations

the right Fox News reported about it under the headline “Brazilian President Forced to Eat Pizza Outside.” What New York Mayor Bill de Blasio shared on Twitter again with the caption: “And we would do it again!” Below it he put a link to all the injection locations in his city.

Back in Brazil, however, Bolsonaro went into self-isolation after his health minister tested positive for Covid-19 and had to remain in quarantine in New York. Brazil’s health authority Anvisa advised the entire presidential delegation to remain in isolation and undergo testing, Reuters reports.

Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tested positive for Covid-19 after accompanying Bolsonaro to his speech at the UN. All other delegation members have tested negative, the Brazilian government reported.