MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Argentine Bolsonaro” not quite so after taking second dose of Covid-19 vax

Milei has not reached Congress yet and he has already disappointed most of his voters

Far-right Deputy-elect Javier Milei, whom many had likened to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has been pictured taking what turned out to be his second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, very much to the disappointment of his constituency who had hoped the soon-to-be MP would become a defender against a possible drive to make vaccination compulsory.

Milei was elected on behalf of the City of Buenos Aires, while his fellow economist José Luis Espert was also voted into Congress on behalf of the same Libertarian Party but in the name of the Province of Buenos Aires. During a TV show over the weekend, Espert expressed his support for mandatory vaccination because “you're not giving any freedom to the others if you choose not to get vaccinated.”

Also in a TV show Monday, Milei said “I'm not an anti-vaxxer; I'm very much a provaxxer and I believe in science.” He also admitted he had taken two doses of the Sinopharm drug after thoroughly considering his options.

To his disillusioned voters, he also explained he needed to get jabbed to travel abroad where vaccines are required and where he makes money through his conferences as a liberal economist.

“Those who branded me as anti-vaccines are exposed as liars and want to charge the issue (of vaccination) as a contradiction of mine. In that habit of putting everything in binary format, the easiest thing for progressives is to say that it was anti-vaccination,” Milei argued.

However, just a month ago, during a TV debate before the elections, he had spoken against being vaccinated “because I am not a risk group” and “not all vaccines are well proven.”

“Now I'm entering Congress, I am going to give up my diet (MP's salary), on December 10 I leave my job, I have to go to give talks to Uruguay, the United States, Chile and Spain and I cannot enter without vaccines. What do I do? Do I run out of income? What do I live on?,” Milei said in his defence.

Milei voters were mocked on social media after most of them had relied on the economist's alleged freedom of choice stance regarding vaccination when deciding their votes. And while Milei has not said he was particularly in favour of mandates, another deputy-elect from his party has.