Vaccines required in Brazil

1. When I travelled to South America 13 years ago I had all the recommended vaccinations.
2. When I moved to Brazil last year I didn't get any boosters and I have visited many times before moving without getting further vaccinations. As far as I am aware, there are no compulsory vaccinations, and I have never been asked to provide proof of any.
3. I didn't refuse any, I chose not to update my vaccinations.
4. There is limited information about the COVID-19 vaccination programme. I plan to get it as soon as it is available to me.
5. Unsure. There are travel restrictions in place regardless of the vaccination status.

Good questions, Diksha.

No vaccines are currently required for Brazil.  Several are recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control:
  -- Yellow Fever
  -- Typhoid
  -- Hepatitis A
  -- Hepatitis B

Since I was planning on living in Brazil permanently, I got all of these, plus a tetanus booster.   I have never refused a recommended vaccine.  Further information is available here:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinatio … one/brazil

In addition, I get regular flu shots in-country.

Expats are encouraged to take the covid-19 vaccine here, and I plan to get it when it becomes available to my age group.  Delivery of vaccines to Brazilian cities is currently slow, however. 

Record of vaccination against covid-19 is not currently required for entry into Brazil; a negative covid-19 test is required, however.

It same as abthree. Moving from the USA I got all the same shots and a couple of booster shots.
I am not sure as to BR having requirements on vaccines from other countries,
Dengue is everywhere in Brazil, no vaccine for such like Zika. Our region has had more deaths from dengue this year than ever,

Texanbrazil wrote:

Dengue is everywhere in Brazil, no vaccine for such like Zika. Our region has had more deaths from dengue this year than ever,

Excellent point by Texanbrazil.  Mosquito-borne diseases are very common in Brazil.  There's a safe and effective vaccine for yellow fever, and anyone planning on living here, or spending any time exploring the interior, should get it in advance. 

Malaria, dengue, and zika are common, and have no effective vaccines.  Malaria and dengue are life-threatening; zika is less so in itself, but particularly dangerous for women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, because of the birth defects it can cause.  Daily anti-malarials can be of some value in malaria-prone areas, but the best precaution against these diseases is mosquito avoidance and control.

Diksha wrote:

If you are an expatriate in Brazil, are you encouraged to get a COVID-19 vaccine? Do you have access to the vaccine and do you plan to get it?

Is this vaccine required for entering the country now?

According to the New York Times opinion writer in São Paulo, Vanessa Barbara, the government of Brazil has botched the covid vaccine rollout in multiple ways.

The Bolsonaro government refused 70 million vaccine doses offered by Pfizer .. spent emergency funds on useless medicines .. and President Bolsonaro has kept on with messages trying to dissuade the populace from getting vaccinated. 

And that's just part of the story of how the administration botched vaccine-related conduct.

Vanessa Barbara's piece was published by the Times this weekend on its online website .. under the title "Brazil Is Brilliant at Vaccinations.  So What Went Wrong This Time?"

Brazil's covid death count is at a quarter million, second highest in the world (after the U.S.)

www.nytimes.com

For some that is bad news and for others, such as our family that do not wish to be vaccinated, its great news that the President may not enforce vaccines.  Less and less freewill nowadays...

Lens in the Philippines,

Covid vaccination is not compulsory in Brazil.

Where did you get the idea that it is .. or might be?

cccmedia

LensSiano wrote:

For some that is bad news and for others, such as our family that do not wish to be vaccinated, its great news that the President may not enforce vaccines.  Less and less freewill nowadays...

Vaccines for adults and tourists are not specifically required for entry into Brazil,  at least as of today. (March 1, 2021)

Of immediate relevance to your plans, a series of vaccinations is required for resident children and adolescents,  with significant penalties for the parents for non-compliance.

cccmedia wrote:

Lens in the Philippines,

Covid vaccination is not compulsory in Brazil.

Where did you get the idea that it is .. or might be?

cccmedia

To clarify;
I replied "great news that the President may not (future tense) enforce vaccines" in reply to the previous post stating "President Bolsonaro has kept on with messages trying to dissuade the populace from getting vaccinated" , therefore implying that Covid vaccine is not currently enforced and hopefully never is (for us)....others are free to their own opinions.

"or might be?"...there is plenty info pointing to the drive for covid vaccination to be (in future) enforced in various parts of the world as an entry requirement, but fortunately Brazil government seems (from above post) less likely to participate.

abthree wrote:

LensSiano wrote:

For some that is bad news and for others, such as our family that do not wish to be vaccinated, its great news that the President may not enforce vaccines.  Less and less freewill nowadays...

Vaccines for adults and tourists are not specifically required for entry into Brazil,  at least as of today. (March 1, 2021)

Of immediate relevance to your plans, a series of vaccinations is required for resident children and adolescents,  with significant penalties for the parents for non-compliance.

Thanks for the heads-up...that is a concern for us and will look into what is required and by what age, where its recorded, and what the penalty is for non-compliance...then be able to make an informed decision.

LensSiano wrote:

Thanks for the heads-up...that is a concern for us and will look into what is required and by what age, where its recorded, and what the penalty is for non-compliance...then be able to make an informed decision.

That's a very good plan.  Here's the list in Portuguese; I'm not aware of an English version, but running it through a translator should give you an idea:

[link moderated],2dda8b6367d0751bb035a390b3edadc9ba4znuy4.html

The ones during the first year are:

1. BCG -- tuberculosis.  Given just after birth.
2. Hepatitis B -- Given right after birth
3. Penta -- Diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and bacterial meningitis and other H. influenzae diseases -- Given in three doses, at two months, four months, and six months
4. Polio -- Given in three doses, at two months, four months, and six months
5. Pneumococcus -- Given in three doses, at two months, four months, and six months
6. Human rotavirus -- Given in two doses, at two months and four months
7. Meningococcus -- for other forms of bacterial meningitis -- Given in two doses, at three months and six months
8. Yellow fever -- given at nine months
9. Tríplice -- Measles, mumps, and rubella -- Given at 12 months

The schedule continues through age 18, and proof of vaccinations is required for schools. 

The fine for refusal to vaccinate is between three and twenty minimum salaries (the minimum salary is currently ~R$1000); the fine doubles for a second offense.  If a child dies from a disease for which the parents refused to vaccinate him/her, the parents can be charged with negligent homicide, with a penalty of 1 to 3 years in prison.

To cccmediaToday 10:41:44
Many of us are thus far not interested in being vaccinated against Covid and can formulate our own opinions. I teach college science, including microbiology, and I am completely avoiding the current vaccines and the media hype.

I got my first shot today (Oxford), and am looking forward to the second on June 1.

rraypo wrote:

To cccmedia...

Many of us are thus far not interested in being vaccinated against Covid and can formulate our own opinions. I teach college science, including microbiology, and I am completely avoiding the current vaccines and the media hype.

Covid is slamming Brazil.  Brazil has recorded a record number of covid deaths for the second consecutive day.

São Paulo, the largest state, is bracing for potentially its worst weeks since last March (2020).  The governor has announced that due to Code Red restrictions, which will take effect this weekend (as of March 6, 2021), all businesses not considered essential will close for at least two weeks in the 46-million population state.

Fewer than ten percent of hospital ICU beds are available in São Paulo.

Sources... CNN-TV .. and Agence France-Presse
                                    (e-published at www.barrons.com)

Do not know who  "many of us" is, but having 100% ICU beds taken, the highest rate to date yesterday, I wish you the best. This helps save your vaccine for others.
We have locked down again except gasolina and supermecados and those are restricted to 30%. MCP has posted officers at the entrances and the power to fine ($R900) those w/o masks and other protocols.

It would be hard to exaggerate the situation.  As of yesterday according to Folha, ten capitals out of 26 states and the Federal District had their ICUs at 90% occupancy or above.  Another 11 capitals are between 80 and 90%.  All of Brazil's ten largest cities are on the list, as are most large interior cities.

We just shut down the PY bridge from 23:00 to 5 am. Seems that if Foz cannot drink and party in Foz they were going to PY to do so.
So, we have 100% ICU occupied, the highest increase in cases since last year. Schools opened for 1 week 4 teachers tested positive and schools closed.

I will defer to teams of highly specialized scientists that have devoted their lives to just studying the COVID viruses. I'm a Registered Nurse and have been vacinated and experienced no side effects. The alternative is getting COVID and possibly being hospitalized and on a ventilator and dieing. I'm medical professional with over 20 years experience but I will not presume my opinion is anywhere near as competent as these scientists, The vaccines are working plain and simple by the stats.

I am not just someone that believes everything I am told but I have been following the information and stay aware the area of knowledge of things I do not know and will not try to fill in the blanks.

I've heard opinions from medical doctors against it but because of their egos they don't know what they don't know. They are good at what they specialize in so they think that their confidence allows them to come up with their own theories that some how are better than the real experts persistent research over years.

Also known as Arm Chair Quaterbacks or Conspiracy Theorists or Leaning upon your own understanding.

Let me just say big thank you to these teams worldwide. If you don't get the vaccine when and if you are eligible for it remember it is not just a personal choice but it affects every single person you have contact with.

CNN has a report from Brazil today stating that the country's "health system is on the verge of collapse."

According to the report, Brazil has been so slow in processing vaccination policy that the country is months away from making a real dent in the covid problem.

Twenty- and thirty-somethings now make up a large percentage of covid hospitalizations in Brazil whereas previously it was the elderly mostly at risk.

Twenty-five percent of worldwide deaths in recent weeks due to covid .. have occurred in Brazil.

Source... CNN-TV
Resource... www.cnn.com

This CNN article below highlights the growing adoption of vaccine passports around the world. Although not all countries will require a vaccine passport in the future, it is thought that most Airlines and cruise ship companies will.

This is very likely as the travel industry has suffered the most during the pandemic. So they will be looking at ways to distance themselves from the pandemic and reassure customers of their safety.

If airports were to require vaccine passports as well, then passengers would no-longer be required to isolate in a government hotels on arrival, which are very expensive.

Already most of the big airlines have said that they will require a vaccine passport, so I think it's just a matter of time before all airlines follow suit, as it's in their vested interest.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/05/digital … broad.html

MSNBC is not CNN ...but when you are looking at trash, it is pretty easy to confuse one piece with another.....
The airlines mostly want to get their customers back ... the less hassle, the more people will want to fly....

Re:  vaccine passports

So far, WHO and more importantly, governments, are skeptical.  Maybe they're coming, but at this point I expect them to be a trailing, not a leading indicator, especially for travel to and from hard-hit countries like Brazil, the United States, France, and Italy.

Inubia wrote:

MSNBC is not CNN ...but when you are looking at trash, it is pretty easy to confuse one piece with another.....
The airlines mostly want to get their customers back ... the less hassle, the more people will want to fly....

Apologises Inubia, I copied across the wrong link from Google. As the original article was in my CNN iPhoneApp. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/27/tech … index.html

I was a little bemused by your reply, is this your opinion? As you sound like a pontificator, we're not having a discussion in a pub, this is public forum. I believe the idea is to add value to the discussion preferably with facts or at least an indication of ones source.

You stated “The airlines mostly want to get their customers back ... the less hassle, the more people will want to fly....” and judging by the way you elegantly opened your reply, I'm assuming you disagree with everything that was mentioned in the CNN article? ...Or are we staying the word ‘trash'

To prove the CNN article is bonafide, I have provided firsthand references below, direct from their own websites and Twitter accounts.

What's interesting about your ambiguous statement is that you appear to have completely misunderstood that it's the airlines who have been pushing for the adoption of vaccine passports. It's the airlines that have invested the most time and money into developing and testing the technology to ensure the viability of the digital vaccine passports. The airlines have made these investments as they have the most to gain from their application.

FYI -
The international vaccine passport for airlines has already been created and fully tested it's called the IATA Travel Pass
The international air transport association (IATA) are the trade association for the worlds airlines, representing 290 airlines, 82% of total air traffic.

Emirates to Become one of the First Airlines Globally to Trial IATA Travel Pass
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2021-01-19-01/

IATA successfully trial first
https://airwaysmag.com/industry/iata-tr … nt-flight/

To understand why the airlines feel they need the  vaccine passport, you need to see things from their point of view. During the pandemic they have not been allowed to operate normally. As you rightly said ‘airlines want to get their customers flying again‘ (obviously). To do that they not only have to convince their customers of their safely, they also need to provide assurances internationally, so that even during lockdowns, international flights can continue. The vaccine passport provides those assurances meaning customer no-longer have to self-isolate and can even visit during lockdowns creating ‘less hassle, meaning more people will want to fly' wouldn't you say?

Last week the follow countries (below) confirmed they will allow tourists to visit, who have had both doses of the vaccine, despite most countries still exercising some level of restrictions:
Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Estonia, The Seychelles, Iceland, Romania, Lebanon, Georgia, Poland
https://www.cntraveller.com/article/cou … ine-travel

[b]EU Commission President: Vaccination Certificate Is a Medical Requirement[/b]
https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/e … quirement/

EU Commission President: Digital Green pass will allow those who vaccinated to move freely within the EU.
https://mobile.twitter.com/vonderleyen/ … 9289904128https://ec.europa.eu/commission/pressco … ip_21_1181

[b]MIAMI – Qantas (QF) CEO Alan Joyce stated via the BBC that many governments were considering vaccination as a “condition of entry.”[/b]
https://airwaysmag.com/industry/qantas- … quirement/

Brilliant, London!

You put the barfly in his place .. and proceeded to deliver superior content .. showing the way we like to do it at expat.com.  Value added, indeed.

Great job.

cccmedia

cccmedia wrote:

Brilliant, London!

You put the barfly in his place .. and proceeded to deliver superior content .. showing the way we like to do it at expat.com.  Value added, indeed.

Great job.

cccmedia

Thanks cccmedia - glad you liked that 😀

Thank you.  I am a physician and have already contracted Covid and recovered from it despite wearing a respirator religiously.  I did take HCQ/Zinc/Azithromycin/Aspirin after developing a fever.

If i hadn't already had the illness, the only one of the current crop of US vaccines I would consider is the J&J product because their claims are not outlandish and it has been developed using traditional vaccine technology.  The VAERS data for the Pfizer and Moderna products isn't good.

Like you, I have looked at the underlying science myself and have zero interest in being lectured to by journalists or bureaucrats with an agenda.

So a little clarification with regards to how you should interpret the "ICU occupancy rate" when you see numbers like 90% and 95%...

Like airlines, hospitals don't want to operate with "empty seats".  However an airline cannot fly a flight that is half full with one pilot and two flight attendants.

Unlike airlines, hospitals can deliberately choose not to staff a certain percentage of beds to reduce labor costs.   I've been at work several times during Covid when our ICU was "full" not because the unit was physically full of patients but because they cut back staff during Covid and the number of staffed beds were full.  There were still many empty beds in the house, its just that management had chosen not to keep enough staff on board because the other drivers of ICU admission (trauma, elective surgery, and a general drop in traffic) had gone down.

So take that "full" percentage with a shaker of salt.

Finally, regarding cases.  You realize that this isn't measured against a fixed standard right?  That you can make the number of cases go up or down per your preference by merely changing recommended cycle thresholds for lab work?  PCR results aren't like the results for a CBC or metabolic panel which are actually absolute values measured against a bell curve of what is normal.

Twenty- and thirty-somethings now make up a large percentage of covid hospitalizations in Brazil whereas previously it was the elderly mostly at risk.

Stop.  Think.  Knowing what we know about Covid - and at this point we know most of what needs to be known - does this make any sense at all?  If such a statement is true, could there be some underlying reason?  Or is the statement simply a lie?

The Expat.com forum is dedicated to expat-related matters. Topics related to politics or religion won't be accepted.
While very interesting points of view, we are getting off-topic

If you read the original post.
You may desire to begin a new post(s) specific to the subject.
Brazil does not require vaccines at this time in adults. If moving with children where there are requirements for children.

Well-said, Tex.  This thread seems to be attracting more drive-bys than usual with little real connection to Brazil,  but a strong desire to vent. 

Thanks, well said. I am seeing statements such as retirement visas go off-topic from investor visas and what to invest in.
Imagen a retirement-aged person needing advice and getting very confused reading about stocks, exchange rates, certain things on retirement in Brazil.
Yes, I used "retirement-aged" and not to ruffle anyone's feathers. I will say a 40 something person may be reviewed by the MJ a little longer as to 60 yo "retirement visa".

Since I already had and recovered from covid I'm not taking any of the vaccines personally but if I was going to take one the J&J product would be my choice.  It wasn't produced using experimental mRNA technology and the company has been far more reasonable in their statements about it than either Pfizer or Moderna which massaged their clinical trials to give a falsely high impression of the efficacy of their products.

I've traveled to Brazil personally twice (Belem and Manaus).

MovingToBrazilSC wrote:

What's your opinion on the J&J covid vaccine?

I wish it were available in Brazil -- I'd get it in a heartbeat.  One and done?   Sign me up!

As it is, I'm waiting for dose #2 of AZ/Oxford/Fiocruz, and we have no idea when my younger husband will be vaccinated. 

Same here Get it if you can. J&J is one and done.
That said the best is the first that you can get.

I just got my J&J today.

watchingtheweasels wrote:

Since I already had and recovered from covid I'm not taking any of the vaccines personally but if I was going to take one the J&J product would be my choice.  It wasn't produced using experimental mRNA technology and the company has been far more reasonable in their statements about it than either Pfizer or Moderna which massaged their clinical trials to give a falsely high impression of the efficacy of their products.

I've traveled to Brazil personally twice (Belem and Manaus).

I just got my J&J vaccine today. I only got it in case they start requiring passengers to be covid vaccinated for international travel. 

I think you're pretty safe with the J&J product.  The VAERS statistics thus far that show higher than normal rates of adverse reactions to Covid vaccination specifically are drawn from the higher numbers of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that have been administered.

But back to Brazil.  Manaus struck me as just too inland and tropical for my taste.

Given all that is going on, I am considering retiring early and moving to Brazil; I think the weather in the Southern part of the country would be more seasonal and to my liking.  While I'm not familiar with the details of Brazilian politics in detail, I suspect I would fall into the pro-Bolsonaro camp.  In the interests of not accidentally moving to the Brazilian equivalent of California any thoughts or recommendations?

I am still looking for rural property  in the Chapada Diamantina region of Bahia ...at altitudes around 1500 meters, the climate is paradisiacal ... absolute highs around 85 F, lows around 50 F, a little more rainfall than at lower elevations, and most important!   no mosquitoes ....the coffee is sublime ...

watchingtheweasels wrote:

But back to Brazil.  Manaus struck me as just too inland and tropical for my taste.

Given all that is going on, I am considering retiring early and moving to Brazil; I think the weather in the Southern part of the country would be more seasonal and to my liking.  While I'm not familiar with the details of Brazilian politics in detail, I suspect I would fall into the pro-Bolsonaro camp.  In the interests of not accidentally moving to the Brazilian equivalent of California any thoughts or recommendations?

As much as I love it, I seldom recommend Manaus:   it's definitely Brazil straight,  no chaser.  The same goes for the wonderful capitals of the Northeast.   For anyone without a specific passion for Brazil, warts and all, something more generic will certainly go down easier.

I recommend checking Belo Horizonte out.   It has elevation, a marked cool season, plenty of culture, and easy access to Rio, São Paulo, and international flights.  Minas Gerais is a center-right state, so you'd probably not find it uncomfortable.

Brazilian politics will probably become even more fraught over the next few years.  As Texanbrazil often points out, this is an excellent time for resident foreigners to be considerate guests, and that will become ever more the case.