The unexpected effects of Jair Bolsonaro’s anti-vaccination and alternate reality rhetoric in Brazil
The unexpected effects of Jair Bolsonaro’s anti-vaccination and alternate reality rhetoric in Brazil

Author(s): Vinicius Mariano De Carvalho
Subject(s): Government/Political systems, Security and defense, Political behavior, Politics and communication, Health and medicine and law
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: Jair Bolsonaro; Brazil; COVID-19; anti-vaccination politics;
Summary/Abstract: On 24 October 2021, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, said in a live broadcast that ‘official reports from the UK government suggest that fully vaccinated people [...] are developing acquired immunodeficiency syndrome much faster than anticipated’. Immediately thereafter, several of his followers posted this declaration on social media despite it being a scientific and empirical absurdity. This was only the most recent of his statements during the pandemic that denied the reality and risks of the virus or promoted mis- and disinformation about Covid-19. This contributed to the creation of an alternative reality concerning the impact of the virus in Brazil. The president and many government actors discredited any scientific data or empirical evidence regarding its spread in the country. Given this context it is perhaps not surprising that Brazil became the country with the second highest Covid-19 death rate worldwide.

• Details
• Contents