The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) published this Friday (17) a note in response to the statements made by President Jair Bolsonaro live on Thursday (16).
In the live broadcast, Bolsonaro said that he asked for the names of the members of the agency who approved the authorization for the use of Pfizer’s vaccine in children aged 5 to 11 years in Brazil, so that they can be disclosed.
“Anvisa is not subordinate to me, let’s make this very clear, I don’t interfere there, but I asked unofficially for the name of the person who authorized the vaccine for children aged five years and over. We want to publicize the names of these people so that everyone can know who they are and form their judgment,” said the president.
In response, Anvisa informed that “their work environment is free from internal pressures and averse to external pressures”.
According to the agency, the service performed in the analysis of vaccines is based on science and “offers the Ministry of Health, the Manager of the National Immunization Plan – PNI, safe, effective and quality options.”
The note states that the agency has become the focus and target of violent political activism after suffering death threats from anti-vaccine people.
“Anvisa is a leader in transparency in administrative acts and all its resolutions are directly or indirectly linked to the name of all our servers, in one way or another”, completed the document.
The note is signed by the CEO of Anvisa, Antonio Barra Torres, and by the directors Meiruze Sousa Freitas, Cristiane Rose Jourdan Gomes, Romison Rodrigues Mota and Alex Machado Campos.
“Anvisa is always ready to meet demands for information, but it repudiates and vehemently rejects any threat, explicit or hidden, that may embarrass, intimidate or compromise the free exercise of regulatory activities and the support of our lives and families: our work, which is to protect the health of the citizen”, concluded the text.
(With information from Tiago Tortella, from CNN)
Reference: CNN Brasil
