(CNN) –– While Covid-19 cases shot in all Brazil last June, Camila Basto waited in a Sao Paulo hospital to know what happened to her daughter Manuela, 9 years old.
Manuela had a fever that reached 40 degrees Celsius, spots all over her skin and a lump that came out of her neck.His kidneys stopped working for almost two days."His heart almost stops," said Basto.
After three days, Manuela was diagnosed with multisystemic inflammatory syndrome, a strange condition that affects children infected with COVID-19.
A child receives a vaccine against COVID-19 in the city of Volta Redonda, Brazil, this Monday.(Credit: Ernesto Carrio/Nurphoto/Shuttersock)
Manuela managed to recover from COVID-19, but its side effects left a long-term sequel in her heart.Now it has arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat.
"It's so horrible.She was a healthy girl, without underlying conditions, "said Basto.
Yes, Manuela survived Covid-19.But hundreds of other children in Brazil no.
Between March 20, 2020 and November 2021, 308 children between 5 and 11 years old died, according to data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health.
The pediatrician and specialist in infectious diseasesMarcelo Otsuka told CNN that COVID-19 has killed more children than meningitis and measles in the same period.In fact, he said, the virus is the second cause of death in this population, only behind traffic accidents.
Now, the National Covid-19 vaccination campaign that is ongo.
Vaccination began this Monday.And as schools will resume activities in February, many parents feel the same.
Families arrive at a Covid-19 Vaccination Center in Volta Redonda, Brazil, this Monday.
A national survey of the Datafolha Institute, which was published on Monday, revealed that 79% of participants support children's vaccination in that age group.The survey was conducted on January 12 and 13 to 2.023 people over 16 years old.
However, the vaccine does not come quick enough for some parents, who have been waiting for almost a month to immunize their children.
The reason?Mainly, the president of Brazil himself, Jair Bolsonaro.
To Bolsonaro, who says that he has not been vaccinated, they have criticized him widely in the country and abroad for minimizing the severity of COVID-19.Even for discouraging others to receive the vaccine.Everything, despite the fact that Brazil fights one of the worst sprouts of Coronavirus in the world.
Bolsonaro's opposition to children's vaccines is the most recent chapter of this crusade.
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On December 16, the Brazilian regulatory agency, Anvisa, gave Pfizer/Biontech vaccine for children.That same day, Bolsonaro described the decision as "amazing".And, in addition, he threatened to disseminate the names of Anvisa officials involved in the decision.
Congresswoman Bia Kicis, a loyal follower from Bolsonaro, who has also discredited children's vaccination on social networks, later revealed those names in a WhatsApp group of Bolsonaro supporters.Kicis justified his actions saying that he thought the documents were public at a hearing on the subject earlier this month.
Congresswoman Bia Kicis speaks at a Bolsonaro rally in August 2021.(Credit: Mateus Bonomi/Agif)
And only a few days before vaccines began to be administered falsely, in an interview with TV Nova Norteste, that no child had died in Brazil of Covid-19, before ensuring that "some children must have died, but they shouldhave some comorbidity ".
Maybe those words are not a surprise.Last June, while talking in an event, Bolsonaro, who did not use a mask, asked a child to take away from him and also withdrew the mask to another child.
Their actions are a slap for the hundreds of parents who still cry the loss of their children.As well as for Manuela's mother, Basto, who feared the worst.
Bolsonaro has also said that he will not vaccinate his 11 -year -old daughter.And he said that "children have not died in a way that justifies a vaccine".
However, "these vaccines offer really good protection, with even greater protection for children than for adults.And with excellent security, ”the pediatrician and expert in infectious DRS told CNN.Marcelo Otsuka.
"All studies suggest that vaccines are safe and have very good efficacy for the age group of 5 to 11 years," he said.
Otsuka cited US data.UU.and said: "When analyzing the data of the 7 million doses administered in the US.UU.To this age group, no adverse effects that should worry were reported ".
But Bolsonaro and his government are not disabled by the great scientific evidence.Meanwhile, his rhetoric continues to delay the administration of vaccines in children.
Bolsonaro's "paradox" with children's vaccines
Esther Solano, professor of international relations at the University of Sao Paulo, told CNN that Bolsonaro's messages about children are part of their long -term political strategy.
When vaccin administration was approved, Solano said he represented a "paradox" for the Brazilian leader, who has been denying the effectiveness of vaccines.
"You have to continue with your strategy, because you can't change the speech and adopt a favorable one for children," Solano explained.
The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, talks about the administration of the vaccine in Brasilia, last March.
Now, the objective of Bolsonaro's anti -vacuum rhetoric is not necessarily preventing Brazilian children from receiving it, Solano added.In that sense, the expert said that this position is part of her long campaign to recruit and play with its extreme right base before the October 2022 elections.
"Bolsonaro is mobilizing his radical followers with his sights in the next elections," Solano said.
Bolsonaro and the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, also proposed a period of public consultation before applying vaccines.In addition to requiring parents to present a medical recipe to vaccinate their children.
While these proposals were not approved, they did delay the administration of the doses.
So Brazil now begins the process much later than many other Latin American countries.Including Cuba, Chile and Argentina, whose child vaccination campaigns have been months.
And Queiroga has not ceased in its attempts to undermine its effectiveness.This week, he falsely said that thousands of people had died from adverse reactions caused by vaccines.Which directly contradicts the data of your own government.Subsequently, he assured that the media brought those comments out of context.
It is difficult to know how Bolsonaro and their allies will benefit by opposing vaccines for children, since public support supports them largely.Especially, in an election year in which the letters could be against them.
The political scientist Camila Rocha told CNN that Bolsonaro's objective is to unify and mobilize her main supporters (about 20% of voters) about a new controversy.As well as divert attention from other issues that can be uncomfortable ".
For Bolsonaro supporters, the issue of children's vaccines will not affect their support, Rocha said.
"It could have negative consequences among the people who voted for Bolsonaro and are disappointed with their governments and their attitudes during the pandemic.Especially, women and young people, ”he added.
For Basto, Bolsonaro lost his trust a long time ago.She has seen what Covid-19 has done to the country and her daughter.
“It is a crazy denialist, what can be said?It is incredible for a president to have those attitudes, "he said.