Bolsonaro calls Covid vaccine being developed by São Paulo´s Butantan Institute “mandrake”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attacked the São Paulo-based world-renowned Butantan Institute when inviting the Minister of Science and Technology, Marcos Pontes, to talk about a vaccine entirely produced in the country by researchers from Ribeirão Preto.

President Jair Bolsonaro called the new vaccine against Covid-19 developed by the Butantan Institute “mandrake”. The entity, which is linked to the government of São Paulo and has already developed Coronavac in partnership with the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, is now working to create a Brazilian immunizer, called Butanvac.

Bolsonaro attacked the institute when he invited the Minister of Science and Technology, Marcos Pontes, to talk about a vaccine produced entirely in the country by researchers from the State University of São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto (USP-RP). “This is 100% Brazilian, isn’t it? This is not that ‘mandrake’ vaccine from São Paulo, no? This one is 100% Brazilian. How is it? What is its name?”, provoked the president, on Thursday, 22, during a live broadcast to social networks.

The studies are being conducted at the University of São Paulo School of Medicine in Ribeirão Preto, in partnership with two private companies – Farmacore Biotechnology Ltda. in Brazil and PDS Biotechnology Corporation in the U.S. According to Marcos Pontes, the forecast is to make the new vaccine available by the end of the year.

Read: Butantan announces first home-grown Brazilian vaccine and will start testing it in humans

The announcement of the request to the National Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) for phase 1 and 2 tests of this immunizer was made in March. At the time, Pontes announced the initiative only hours after Butantan had announced that it is studying a totally national vaccine, the Butanvac.

Butantan is also responsible for developing the Coronavac, in partnership with the manufacturer Sinovac, from China. According to data from the government, this vaccine is the main immunization available to Brazilians today, representing more than 80% of the doses already applied.

Read: New “all Brazilian” Covid-19 vaccine is not Brazilian after all

The Butanvac technology, presented by the Butantan Institute as being 100% national, was developed last year by researchers from the Mount Sinai Institute in New York. On a later note, Butantan acknowledged that it “signed a partnership and has the license to use and explore part of the technology, which was developed by the Icahn School of Medicine of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York obtain the virus.”

President again criticizes lockdown

In Thursday’s April 22 broadcast, the president again criticized harsh social isolation measures recommended by health officials to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. “It’s been a year, and they keep doing lockdown as if it’s medicine to stop the virus. It’s actually impoverishing our population more and more,” he said.

In talking about Covid-19, the president once again defended the use of a drug with no proven efficacy against the disease. “Why can’t you talk about medicine, God in heaven? Last year I talked about medicine, and I was massacred. I took a drug last year (hydroxychloroquine). If I have a problem again, I will take it. It’s okay,” he affirmed.

Mandrake is the root of a plant, historically derived either from plants of the genus Mandragora found in the Mediterranean region or from other species, such as Bryonia alba, the English mandrake, which have similar properties.

Because mandrakes contain deliriant hallucinogenic tropane alkaloids and the shape of their roots often resembles human figures, they have been associated with a variety of superstitious practices throughout history. They have long been used in magic rituals, today also in contemporary pagan traditions such as Wicca and Odinism.