Post-Covid-19 situation in Brazil

Random urban violence increased. 

Petty crimes, hold ups. 

I am a real estate broker, and i am the last person to say this ( bad for business ).  But it is true.

Your average train/subway peddler has gone to petty crime.   Fewer train and subway cart passengers.

Use caution on streets and public transportation.  The security detail  on public transit is useless.

"COVID Rules and Regulations

Dear Roddie,

We wanted to remind you to check all applicable COVID-19 policies that may affect your upcoming travel. To get started, please type in your origin, destination, connection, and passport country as well as your vaccination status and dates of travel in the link below."

I received this from the Airline company I used to book my flight to Florida for my FBI Background Check Fingerprinting.

Roddie in Retirement

03/29/23 @roddiesho.  Totally normal, changes all the time.  Have a good trip!

@roddiesho

Just last week I took a round trip to the US from Brazil. Obviously check all the requirements on the airline website, but here was my experience:

• No masks required in Brazil or US, in airports or planes.
• No Covid test required (I had a vaccination card)

What I documentation I needed:

• Passport (US)
• CRNM (Brazil)
• Covid vaccine card (from US)

I also brought a US drivers license for my rental car.

When checking in to the flight from Brazil->US, the airline ticket agent checked my passport. When exiting the country the PF agent checked my passport and CRNM.

When checking into the flight from US-> Brazil the airline ticket agent checked my passport and Covid vaccine card. When entering Brazil, the PF agent checked my CRNM and passport.

The experience was very much the same as it was flying pre-covid, except needing to show a vaccine card to the airline personnel when checking in on my return flight to Brazil. I flew on Delta/Gol.

03/29/23.  As @sprealestatebroker has said, petty crime, and especially muggings and holdups, peaked here in Manaus as well at the height of the pandemic,  It's declined somewhat now, but not to its pre-pandemic levels.  After one unsuccessful mugging attempt early in the pandemic, we're always looking around ourselves now when we're on the street; that level of hyper-alertness is now probably the new normal.  Between that and convenience, a lot more of our shopping has gone online over the past two years, and probably will stay there for the most part.

Life here has returned to normal.  Mask use is no longer required and is sporadic, even in health clinics.  That doesn't worry me, but the decline in the number of people getting boosters does.  We're fully vaccinated, but I fear a resurgence among the unvaccinated or insufficiently vaccinated population.  During the pandemic Brazil lost so many people that it's as if the entire city of Aracaju, the capital of the state of Sergipe, had disappeared.  It would be a shame to lose any more to avoidable illness.

As for future expats, Brazil is still well worth the effort, but now more than ever, watch your back.

Hello good people, I am a Sierra Leonean and would like to know if it is legal for airlines to ask passengers to provide collateral in the form of money before being allowed to board a flight to Brazil on a tourist visa. A friend of mine claimed that Ethiopia airlines asked him to provide 3000$ as collateral and will only be given to him, when he return to Guinea Conakry.

03/29/23 @kamara3830.  Welcome!  Whether it's legal for an airline to require a security deposit from a customer prior to international travel depends on the law of the country where the flight originates.  I have never heard of this happening before, but if a traveler is denied entry into Brazil on arrival, the airline may be held responsible for returning the traveler to the point of origin.  This could be the source of the requirement that your friend encountered.

In your friend's situation, though, I would certainly demand to speak with the senior airline official available,  see the requirement in writing, and receive a signed receipt on airline letterhead to ensure that it wasn't just a simple shakedown.

Hello good people, I am a Sierra Leonean and would like to know if it is legal for airlines to ask passengers to provide collateral in the form of money before being allowed to board a flight to Brazil on a tourist visa. A friend of mine claimed that Ethiopia airlines asked him to provide 3000$ as collateral and will only be given to him, when he return to Guinea Conakry.
-@kamara3830

I have twice been asked to show my own "means of support" when entering a country, not Brazil. I have one great friend from Brazil who was stopped and held at O'Hare when entering the USA until they could verify her personal means of support while in the USA. They made her miss her connecting flight, offering no help.

I live in the North near Sao Luis there is no restriction. Some people still were mask and my Doctor visit the Doctor were a mask but the rest of the staff doesn't. I ask the Doctor why do you were a mask. They said because of all the different people they have as patients? I do have a question when people here were asked for a vaccine card did you have to show  more than one or two shot. I only took the first 2 when it was first offered it wasn't the Pfizer so is that acceptable as vaccinated. I was going to fly in May within Brazil and may have to go back to the US for Business. Thank

03/29/23   I do have a question when people here were asked for a vaccine card did you have to show more than one or two shot. I only took the first 2 when it was first offered it wasn't the Pfizer so is that acceptable as vaccinated. I was going to fly in May within Brazil and may have to go back to the US for Business. Thank
-@NewBrazil

The last time we flew within Brazil (January/February 2023) we didn't have to show proof of vaccination.  The last time we flew to and from the US (November 2022) we did, but I think that initial shot plus booster was sufficient.  We were required to wear masks within the Brazilian airports and on all flights, but I believe that the mask requirement has since been lifted.

Requirements change all the time, so keep checking your airline's website for the latest.

I do have a question when people here were asked for a vaccine card did you have to show more than one or two shot. I only took the first 2 when it was first offered it wasn't the Pfizer so is that acceptable as vaccinated. I was going to fly in May within Brazil and may have to go back to the US for Business. Thank
-@NewBrazil

I took the two initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine and no boosters.  That was sufficient for me to fly from the US back to Brazil last week.

I had the novavax. But l will tell you right now l will never take another. Period.

@rraypo That is terrible!  Shouldn't any requirement to "prove income or self-sufficiency" have happened at the US Consulate while obtaining the Tourist or other Visa?

I had the novavax. But l will tell you right now l will never take another. Period.
-@KenAquarius

That's the Chinese Vaccine.  Useless.  They had in China, and guess what.....   

China had lockdowns.

Your best chance is with Pfizer, already available, and the Indian vaccine maybe. I took Jansen and Pfizer.

Now, for anyone who cares, check the FDA logs on Indian and Chinese suppliers of active ingredients, assays, and medication.  It's horrible.  One citation after the other.

Anything involvinng non compliance such as forged documentation, lack of SOP, lack of sanitary standards, ,broken equipment. 

Your best chance is with Pfizer, already available, and the Indian vaccine maybe. I took Jansen and Pfizer.

-@sprealestatebroker

AstraZeneca and Pfizer here, including the latest Pfizer booster.  Glad that I did.  When they get down to my husband's age group we'll get him in for the booster, and then we're done with covid for now in our house.   

SUS's vaccine programs have probably saved millions of lives in Brazil over the years, and covid is just a small part of it.  I don't think that they get nearly enough praise, or credit.

@BRBC I have everything but a CRNM. I have a CPF from the govt., but don't have a CRNM yet.

Roddie in Retirement

A year ago we travelled to Brasil form New York and only had to show vaccination cards to the overworked agent that was helping people self check-in.  There was a cursory glance at the card and a scribbled initial on our boarding pass.  A Fake card would have easily passed muster in getting on the flight, just saying.  We had friends come to visit us in Bahia 3 weeks ago, and they only showed the vaccine card at JFK.  No other documents other than Passport were necessary to travel.  No masks on any flight and the mask rules were not enforced at all in Sao Paulo GRU.  Keep in mind that Brasil is going to start requiring Visa's again for non-residents so be prepared if you fall in that category

I had the novavax. But l will tell you right now l will never take another. Period.
-@KenAquarius

It's the "Chinese" one.  Useless.   You have to insist in either Jansen or Pfizer.