JAKARTA - Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said on Friday that five of its directors had received death threats, possibly related to Anvisa's approval of COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5-11 years.
In a statement, Anvisa admitted that she had reported the threat via e-mail to the police and the prosecutor's office.
According to them, the message sent on Thursday morning put the lives of the five directors at risk if Anvisa approved the vaccination for that age group.
Schools in Parana state were also under threat, Anvisa said.
The threat came after Pfizer said on Wednesday it would apply for permission to Anvisa so that its COVID-19 vaccine could be used on children aged 5-11 years.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee recommends using the Pfizer vaccine for this age group, but at a lower dose.
Brazil has one of the highest vaccination approval rates in the world and is making progress in its COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
However, anti-vaccine groups have mushroomed in recent years, in part supported by President Jair Bolsonaro's refusal to be injected with a COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 has killed more than 600,000 people in Brazil, the second highest number in the world after the US.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
