COVID-19 vaccine: Should it be mandatory?

Critics of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro are again speaking out against the leader’s stance on the coronavirus pandemic, this time rejecting his view that vaccination for the virus shouldn’t be mandatory, according to The Associated Press.

Bolsonaro’s first such comments came Monday, when he told a supporter, “No one can force anyone to get a vaccine.” He repeated it Thursday night during a live broadcast on Facebook, adding his opposition to administering vaccines that are yet to be proven on Brazilian soil.

“It has been proven in other countries, but not here in Brazil,” he said in The Associated Press report, without specifying to which potential vaccine he was referring.

“We cannot be irresponsible and put a vaccine into people’s bodies. As I said, nobody can oblige someone to take a vaccine.”

The comments were swiftly rebuked by opponents on social media.