Brazil will ultimately not require a health passport for foreigners

Brazil ruled out Tuesday, December 7 from requiring a certificate of vaccination against Covid-19 for foreigners arriving on its soil, after President Jair Bolsonaro compared this measure recommended by the health regulator to a

for animals .

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"You cannot discriminate between vaccinated and unvaccinated people to impose restrictions (...) Science already knows that vaccines do not completely prevent the transmission of the virus,"

said the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, after an interministerial meeting in the presidency. The latter said, however, that the precise characteristics of the Omicron variant being currently unknown, Brazil will require that unvaccinated people be

, as recommended by the health regulator, Anvisa.

At the end of this period and with a negative PCR test,

, he added.

Until now, it was only necessary to present a negative PCR test.

Reacting to Jair Bolsonaro's statements against the health passport, Marcelo Queiroga said it was

.

he said.

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Before Tuesday's announcement, the far-right president, who himself has not been vaccinated, rejected Anvisa's request for a health passport.

he proclaimed. Avisa has recommended requiring a health passport for travelers arriving in Brazil, where at least six cases of Omicron have been confirmed and where a larger influx of tourists is expected for the holiday season.

In recent days, at least 20 of the 27 Brazilian states, including those of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, have as a precaution suspended New Year's celebrations. Brazil has recorded more than 615,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, making it the second most bereaved country in absolute numbers behind the United States.