MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Most Brazilians find Bolsonaro a hindrance to vaccinating kids against COVID-19

Brazil has started vaccinated children aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19 Monday

A Datafolha survey released Monday showed 58% of Brazilians considered President Jair Bolsonaro was a hindrance to vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19, while 25% of respondents, thought things were the other way around.

The opinion poll was conducted by telephone with 2,023 people aged 16 and over, in all states of the country, between January 12th and 13th. The margin of error is plus or minus two percentage points, it was explained.

According to statistical projections, the 58% of respondents aged 16 and over who think the president was more of a hindrance was tantamount to 97.3 million people, according to Datafolha. The 25% who believed Bolsonaro was helpful represented roughly 42 million Brazilians, the pollsters explained.

The other replies to the survew were as follows: Neither helps nor hinders - 2%; Don't know - 14%, while 61% of women thought negatively of Bolsonaro and 32% of men believed he was more helping than hindering.

Among those who disapproved of Bolsonaro's role were: Respondents with higher education - 66%; People aged 60 and over - 64%; People with an income between 2 and 5 minimum wages - 61%; Women - 61%.

The groups who found the president cooperative were: Evangelicals - 36%; People who have a monthly family income above ten 10 minimum wages - 32%; Men - 32%; People between 45 and 59 years old - 30%; People who studied up to high school - 28%.

The Datafolha survey also showed that 79% of Brazilians favored vaccinating of children aged 5 to 11 against Covid-19, while 17% of respondents were against it. In other words, eight out of ten Brazilians supported injecting children. That 79% aged 16 and over represented 132.5 million Brazilians, according to Datafolha.

Another 4% of respondents said they had no viewpoint on the issue, while 83% of women were in favor of vaccination, compared to 75% of men. On the other end of the table, 11% of women and 22% of men said that children aged 5 to 11 should not be vaccinated.

Datafolha also asked whether parents and guardians should take children to school in light of the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant. Most people said they should (53%), and 44% opposed the idea.

Also Monday the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and 7 more state capitals started vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19.

In accordance with federal government guidance, childhood vaccination will occur in descending order of age (from the oldest to the youngest children), with priority for those with comorbidities or permanent disabilities and for indigenous children.