VOA健康报道2023--Brazil Sees Sharp Drop in Vaccination since COVID-19 Pandemic

The percentage of people vaccinated¹ in Brazil has decreased since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health officials say the situation has put millions of people at risk of being infected with diseases that have been under control in Brazil.

Doctors, government agencies and the United Nations Children's Agency, UNICEF, have tried to bring attention to the issue. Official government records show that in 2015, vaccination² coverage³ in Brazil was 95 percent. But that number fell to 68 percent last year.

For polio, vaccinations⁴ dropped from 85 percent to 68 percent. Officials are warning that polio could return to Brazil, where it had been eradicated⁶ in 1989.

Similar decreases in vaccinations have been recorded for other diseases. The disease measles⁷ was declared eradicated from Brazil in 2016. But it returned two years later. And there are fears that diphtheria could be coming back too.

Health experts say the reduction in vaccinations is a growing problem worldwide. But the drops are especially worrying in Brazil, a country of 203 million people that until recently was seen as a leader in nationwide vaccination campaigns.

The French Press Agency (AFP) says that an anti-vaccination movement started spreading in Brazil around 2016. AFP recently reported that the movement got stronger during the term of former President Jair Bolsonaro who served from 2019 to 2022. Bolsonaro had refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and repeatedly raised questions about the safety of the vaccines⁸.

Natalia Pasternak is head of the Question of Science Institute, a public policy organization in Brazil. She told AFP, "It's very sad to see how a country whose vaccination programs set an example for the world can suddenly suffer from an anti-vaccine movement."

Vaccination efforts were slow to get started in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. But an organized and expanded campaign launched later is credited with helping⁹ to slow the spread of the disease. Official numbers show that in Brazil, more than 700,000 people died from COVID-19. That is second only to the United States, which reported more than 1.1 million deaths.

Brazilian health officials say that by early 2022, the country had vaccinated 93 percent of adults against COVID-19. But after that, vaccinations began falling again – both for COVID-19 and other vaccines.

Many things might be influencing decreased vaccinations. These include the failure of people to stay current on vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. There have also been limited efforts to educate the public about the continuing dangers of diseases that can be prevented by vaccines.

New issues might be making things worse including a mix of politics, polarization and disinformation that exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the anti-vaccination movement continues to grow although Bolsonaro lost the 2022 election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Isabella Ballalai is with the Brazilian Immunization Society. She told AFP, "We're facing a post-trust scenario¹⁰, in which families are being attacked by disinformation and lies. It's not just the occasional fake news story, it's very structured."

Ballalai added that the result of bad information could end up being worse than the pandemic itself.

A recent public opinion study found the top reasons parents give for not vaccinating¹¹ their children were fears of side effects and mistrust of vaccines. The study was carried out by the Brazilian Pediatrics Society and the Question of Science Institute.

Pasternak said she has also advised health officials to think about local issues. "Studies show the best way to convince people to get vaccinated is working with local leaders...People listen to those they trust." But Pasternak admitted the efforts will not be easy, "We have lots of work to do," she said.

Words in This Story

eradicate⁵ – v. to destroy or completely get rid of something

polarize – v. to cause something to divide into two completely opposing groups

scenario – n. a description of possible actions or events in the future

occasional –adj. something that does not happen all the time or very regularly

fake – adj. false, not true

convince – v. to persuade someone of something

1 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

2 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

4 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

6 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

7 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

8 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

11 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。