In a meeting at the Senate Human Rights Commission (CDH) this afternoon (16), the president of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), Antonio Barra Torres, defended the vaccination of the population against covid-19 and criticized speeches that spread misinformation on the subject. He recalled that immunizations are applied since childhood and that there was never any question about this.
“So, everything that is built from terrorism, from fake news on top of this issue is charging a price – it is charging a price. The bill is coming.”
At the meeting, Barra Torres mentioned threats that members of the agency’s Collegiate Board of Directors have received for advocating the vaccination of children against covid-19. “Of course it would be very good, it would be ideal if we had plenty of expressions of support, etc. I pointed out so far, recently, that there was this scenario in the not-so-distant past. But it turns out that we want to have, pure and only, the minimum necessary for the work to be done – I say this for the servants of the house, the public servants –, to, at least, be able to work in an environment without threats, without aggression. ”
During the meeting, the president of Anvisa also spoke about the relationship with the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro. Anvisa and Planalto diverged when the president defended, in December 2021, the disclosure of the names of agency technicians who approved the Pfizer vaccine for children. Then the president made criticism of the approval of the immunizer and questioned the motivations behind the decision, which drew criticism from Barra Torres. After the episode, President Jair Bolsonaro denied accused Barra Torres of corruption.
“It is important to point out that, if we are going to analyze all the President’s manifestations in relation to Anvisa, we will find, perhaps, 97% of praiseworthy references and three diametrically opposed to that”, highlighted Barra Torres when participating this Wednesday. fair of the meeting of the Senate Human Rights Commission.
