As Brazil agency approves COVID vaccine for kids, Bolsonaro wants to publish regulators' names for public "judgements"
CBSN
Brasília — Brazil's health regulator approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday for use in children aged five to 11, joining a growing list of countries green-lighting vaccination for kids. It wasn't clear when, or if, the hard-hit South American country might actually begin vaccinating children, however, as its anti-vaccine president said he wanted to name the regulators behind the decision publicly, weeks after they received death threats.
The matter now passes to the health ministry, which will have to decide whether to add COVID-19 vaccines for five- to 11-year-olds to the national immunization program and acquire child-size doses — one-third the adult dose.
"Collective vaccination reduces transmission of SARS-CoV-2 for this age group, and as a result, reduces transmission from children and adolescents to adults and the elderly," said Meiruze Freitas, director of Brazilian health regulator Anvisa, announcing the decision.
On May 7, health influencer Paul Saladino, M.D.. posted a video to his X account that promoted feeding "raw dairy" to infants. The post received over 90,000 views and sparked strong backlash before it was removed the following day. Saladino regularly advocates for "animal-based" diets featuring raw milk, including on his TikTok channel where he has over half a million followers.
Everywhere you look, things are getting more complicated. Our phones have over a thousand settings. Showerheads come with apps. Cars have touchscreens. Ovens have touchscreens. "There's no doubt that 'featuritis' is real," said design consultant Jakob Nielsen. "Most of these things are too complicated."
New research is adding to the evidence linking ultra-processed foods to health concerns. The study tracked people's habits over 30 years and found those who reported eating more of certain ultra-processed foods had a slightly higher risk of death — with four categories of foods found to be the biggest culprits.