Alongside Brazilian Health Minister, Bolsonaro Again Recommends Hydroxychloroquine

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Thursday, October 22nd, in a meeting that tempered his relationship with Minister of Health Eduardo Pazuello, President Jair Bolsonaro reiterated his support for the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of Covid-19. Diagnosed with Covid-19 on Tuesday, Pazuello said he had taken the “full set” of drugs.

Pazuello, who is the 12th cabinet Minister to contract the disease, said he felt tired on Sunday, but only saw the doctor two days later. “On Tuesday I started to take hydroxychloroquine and annita, and azithromycin on Wednesday,” he said during a live stream on social media. Bolsonaro then stressed that the Health chief is “evidence” that the drugs work, despite the fact that there is no scientific evidence of this. The Minister concurred and said that yesterday he had woken up “fully restored”.

“Further evidence that he took and it worked. Some complain that hydroxychloroquine has no scientific evidence. It does not for Covid, but it does for other conditions and it has no side effects,” said Bolsonaro. The Chief Executive then reiterated the advice to seek a doctor at the first symptoms. “Follow the doctor’s prescriptions, if the doctor prescribes hydroxychloroquine, then take it as soon as possible,” stressed the Minister of Health.

The meeting occurred one day after the President undercut Pazuello by ordering the cancellation of a letter of intent to purchase the Chinese CoronaVac vaccine signed by the Minister. “They said we were fighting. In military circles, it’s common for this to happen. Some clashes. There was no problem at all,” argued Bolsonaro.

In his reaction, Pazuello said: “It’s that simple, one orders and the other obeys, but we have affection for each other.” On Wednesday, in an interview with Radio Jovem Pan, Bolsonaro said that Pazuello’s decision to sign the letter of intent to purchase 46 million doses of the Chinese vaccine had been “hasty”.

“Pazuca,” as he was named by the President in the interview, was also praised by Bolsonaro. “He was one of the best Ministers of Health we had, I told the press that, you can be sure his work is outstanding,” he said. The Minister added saying that “things are well structured and the Ministry’s team is good.”

Source: Estadão Conteúdo