Brazil's Supreme Court Orders Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination

Brazil's Supreme Court (STF) on Thursday approved mandatory vaccination against COVID-19, while allowing subnational governments to sanction people who do not get vaccinated.

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By a ruling 10 votes in favor and one against, STF judges also rejected an appeal to free parents from vaccinating their children on philosophical, religious, or existential grounds.

Judge Kassio Nunes Marques, who was appointed by President Jair Bolsonaro, was the only magistrate to reject the ruling, noting that mandatory vaccination should be the "last step in the fight" against the pandemic.

The STF highlighted that the decision seeks to enhance sanctions to prevent unvaccinated people from entering certain places, or exercising certain activities.

The meme reads, "The 'Our Struggle is For Life' report provides an overview of the situations experienced by Brazil's Indigenous people as a result of the pandemic. It is not just a virus: 889 Indigenous people dead, 41,250 Indigenous people infected, 161 affected communities."

On Dec. 12, Health Ministry released a national vaccination plan that was heavily criticized due to its lack of accuracy on the starting dates and the means to get 70 percent of the population vaccinated.

Judge Ricardo Lewandowski, who ordered modifications to the vaccination plan, pointed out that collective health cannot be harmed by people who deliberately refuse to be vaccinated.

As of Friday morning, Brazil confirmed 7,111,527 COVID-19 cases and 184,876 related fatalities.