Governor of Sao Paulo calls Bolsonaro a "psychopathic leader"

Brazilians die waiting for a bed ICU 3:15

(CNN) -

The governor of the state of Sao Paulo called Jair Bolsonaro a "psychopathic leader," in a harsh reprimand for the Brazilian president's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We are in one of those tragic moments in history when millions of people pay a high price for having an unsuspecting psychopathic leader in charge of a nation," Joao Doria said in an interview with CNN on Monday.

Doria said that a large part of the deaths from the virus in Brazil could have been avoided if Bolsonaro had "acted with the responsibility that the position confers on him."

He added that Bolsonaro made "incredible mistakes, the biggest was having a political dispute with the governors who seek to protect the population."

Bolsonaro has repeatedly opposed the lockdowns and restrictive measures and has criticized governors and mayors for implementing them.

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Lula asks for a quarantine in Brazil 0:29

Doria said he faces the greatest challenge of his life as governor of Brazil's largest state, and that he had to restructure the health system in "record time" and seek ways to mitigate the economic crisis that hit the country during the pandemic.

He also spoke about the serious state of hospitals and intensive care units (ICU) in Sao Paulo.

He said the number of ICU beds had already tripled and 12 field hospitals would open in the state this month.

The covid-19 crisis in Brazil has never been worse.

Almost all Brazilian states have an ICU occupancy of 80% or more, according to a recent CNN analysis of state data.

As of Friday, 16 of the 26 states were at 90% or higher, meaning those healthcare systems have collapsed or are in imminent risk of doing so.

And as of Friday, fewer than 10 million people in the country of roughly 220 million had received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to federal health data.

Only 1.57% of the population was fully vaccinated.

That is the result of a slow implementation program that has been plagued with delays.

During the announcement of its distribution plan in early February, the government promised that some 46 million doses of vaccines would be available in March.

He has repeatedly been forced to cut that number, and it is now estimated that only 26 million doses will be available by the end of the month.

Doria said that 90% of the vaccines in Brazil were produced by the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo - linked to the Sao Paulo government - and that by the end of August they will have made available 100 million vaccines throughout the country.

"It is still not enough," he said, adding that the federal government started buying vaccines in March this year, while the state of Sao Paulo started in April last year.

CNN's Matt Rivers contributed to this report.

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