Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

The West Virginia Department of Health (DH) is informing all West Virginians ages 65 and older they are eligible for an additional dose of the updated COVID-19 vaccine, following the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) recent recommendation.

As the data consistently shows, those who are older and immunocompromised are the most vulnerable to the severe effects of COVID-19, said Secretary Sherri Young, DO, MBA, FAAFP. It is for this reason we encourage those individuals to strongly consider getting an additional dose.

West Virginias Pan Respiratory Dashboard shows only 36 percent of West Virginians over the age of 61 are up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccines. The dashboard shows that more than a hundred West Virginians died from COVID-19 in the last year, with the average age of those individuals being 73.

Under current recommendations, those 65 and older can receive an additional dose of the vaccine at least four months after the previous shot. The updated vaccine targets both the original strain of the virus and newer variants, offering broader protection.

To find updated COVID-19 information and the nearest vaccination location, visit COVID-19 Vaccine (wv.gov).

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West Virginia Department of Health Alerts Eligible Residents They May Receive Additional Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine - West Virginia Department of Health...

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Public health communicators have tried numerous methods to encourage people to accept COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters. And while some messages were ineffective, new University of Kansas research discovered a specific type of narrative messagea conversion messagecan directly improve attitudes and indirectly reduce resistance among people who have never been inoculated for COVID-19.

The experimental study also found that people were persuaded differently depending on their pre-treatment levels of general vaccine hesitancy beliefs.

Researchers tested two-sided conversion messagesin which a person told a story about how they were initially resistant to getting vaccinated for COVID-19 but eventually refuted these beliefs and changed their mind after infectionagainst one-sided advocacy messages, in which people said they always intended to get vaccinated after contracting COVID-19. The results confirmed that conversion messages improved attitudes.

Jeff Conlin, assistant professor of journalism & mass communications, led the study, in which participants were randomly assigned one of three conversion messages or one of three advocacy messages. After reading the message, participants answered questions assessing how they perceived the strength of the argument and the extent to which the author of the message was similar to themselves.

"Overall, compared to advocacy messages, conversion messages were more effective in increasing positive attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines. Since the entire sample was unvaccinated, we were also interested in how conversion messages could reduce their resistance," Conlin said. "Our findings revealed the route to decreasing resistance was circuitous but also significant."

The researchers employed an analytical method called structural equation modeling to reduce measurement error and understand the broader relationships, or paths, between message manipulations and cognitive variables. The analysis showed significant indirect effects of conversion messages on resistance to vaccination through intervening cognitive processes.

Results in the final accepted structural equation model showed that resistance was significantly reduced following conversion message exposure through a path that initially included homophily or participants' perceived similarity of the author to themselves. It was then tested through argument strength, or participants' assessment of how convincing the message seemed, and finally, through elevated attitudes about COVID-19 vaccination.

"We wanted to understand better the relationships between intervening variables, or what was happening after message exposure but before people formed their attitudes and resistance intentions because these constructs represent different mechanisms of cognitive processingfast and slow thinking," Conlin said.

The authors' explanation for the results was that there was likely a high degree of matching between the conversion message author's perceived psychological state and the beliefs held by the unvaccinated sample. As participants moved from homophily, or from a less effortful mode of fast-processing to argument strength, an effortful slow-scrutinizing process, they may have recognized that their judgment about vaccination was called into question.

More effortful processing was needed to compensate for a reduction in their confidence in self-judgments, which resulted in a need to evaluate the arguments in the message more closely.

"What's interesting is that participants were not just relying on a mental shortcut of recognizing the similarity between the author and themselves before forming attitudes and intentionsthey were also scrutinizing the argument," Conlin said. "Ultimately, participants found the outcome of the message was acceptable. Along with increasing positive attitudes, these results showed that participants' intentions to resist COVID-19 vaccines were indirectly reduced."

The researchers also found different indirect routes to reduce vaccination resistance depending on participants' self-reported levels of general vaccine hesitancy. Participants who exhibited higher levels of hesitancy (prior to receiving the message treatment) showed reduced resistance through homophily, followed by argument strength.

Meanwhile, participants who exhibited lower levels of vaccine hesitancy used only argument strength, not homophily, when processing the message. For this group, however, indirect message effects on intentions to resist were not significant.

According to the authors, the findings lend empirical support to established dual processing theories such as the Heuristic Systematic Model that describe additive and biased serial processing, which also can be applied to practice.

Practically speaking, if public health communicators know that both types of processing occur serially, as opposed to simultaneously, and that homophily plays a default role, they can look for matches between a storyteller with a compelling conversion story and the target audience, Conlin said.

"What the author of the conversion message reveals about their former beliefs should overlap with current beliefs held by the target audience. Not only that, but the reasons the author shares about their conversion experience need to be convincing and well-told," he said.

The research is published in the journal Health Communication.

The work builds on research Conlin and colleagues previously conducted that showed two-sided conversion messages were more effective in persuading vaccine-hesitant participants than one-sided advocacy messages prior to the mass availability of vaccines.

More information: Jeff Conlin et al, Re-Routing Persuasion: How Conversion Messages Boost Attitudes and Reduce Resistance Among Holdouts Unvaccinated for COVID-19, Health Communication (2023). DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2289280

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Study shows narrative conversion messages boost attitudes about COVID vaccinations among unvaccinated adults - Medical Xpress

Brazils federal police recommended that former President Jair Bolsonaro be criminally charged in a scheme to falsify his Covid-19 vaccine card, partly to travel to the United States during the pandemic, in the latest sign of criminal investigations closing in on the former president.

Federal prosecutors will now decide whether to pursue the case. If they do, it will be the first time the former president has faced criminal charges.

Brazilian police accused Mr. Bolsonaro of ordering a top aide to obtain falsified Covid-19 vaccination records for himself and his daughter, 13, in late 2022, just before the former president traveled to Florida to stay for three months following his election loss.

Brazilian police said they were awaiting an answer from the U.S. Justice Department on whether Mr. Bolsonaro used a fake vaccination card to enter the United States, which could bring different criminal charges.

At the time, most international visitors to the United States were required to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination to enter the country, and a U.S. official said even a foreign leader would have had to comply with such rules.

Mr. Bolsonaro has said he did not receive a Covid-19 vaccine, but he has denied accusations that he was involved in any plan to falsify his vaccination records. His lawyer said in a text message that he was still reviewing the accusations.

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Brazil Police Recommend Criminal Charges Against Bolsonaro - The New York Times

Preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in immunocompromised people hasn't gotten any easier as the pandemic trundles on into its fifth year.

The monoclonal antibody tixagevimab-cilgavimab (Evusheld) has long gone by the wayside for pre-exposure prophylaxis and no replacements are on the horizon. Other prevention strategies among the general population, such as mask-wearing, have all but disappeared.

Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is now the key prevention strategy for this vulnerable population, and people who are immunocompromised should still get COVID boosters -- but, given that they are less likely to generate an adequate immune response to the vaccines, the question is: how often?

"We really have a very confusing, complex black box of problems," Catherine Diefenbach, MD, a hematologist-oncologist at NYU Langone Health in New York City, told MedPage Today. "Different people are immunocompromised in different ways. You have people with autoimmune disease who are compromised. You have people with organ transplants who are compromised. You have the elderly who are immunocompromised, and you have malignancy patients who are immune compromised."

The most vulnerable among the immunosuppressed are people receiving treatment for cancer, especially with B-cell-depleting therapies, those who have received organ transplants who must remain on immunosuppressive medications indefinitely, and people living with HIV. People who must take medications like steroids or methotrexate to manage autoimmune conditions are also at risk for more severe disease from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keep It Simple

Of three clinicians who treat moderately to severely immunocompromised patients and spoke with MedPage Today, all of them offered a similar recommendation: people who are immunocompromised should get a COVID vaccine about every 6 months, with the caveat that intervals between vaccine doses should be tailored to individual patient needs.

"We know that immunity drifts down, wanes over time," said Camille Kotton, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "So it seems like a good idea to keep boosting [every 6 months] and keep immunity as high as possible. Unfortunately, vaccines are still not as protective against severe disease as we would like in the immunocompromised, but it's certainly much better to be vaccinated than not."

Dorry Segev, MD, PhD, a transplant surgeon at NYU Langone Health, told MedPage Today that "every 6 months is probably reasonable for most people who are immunocompromised."

However, he occasionally takes a more individualized approach, depending on the patient's exposure to high-risk situations, such as those who anticipate being in crowded situations or have a good chance of being exposed to others with COVID. "Maybe that person would consider getting boosted every 3 months," he said.

Diefenbach noted that for people with compromised immunity, she would recommend getting boosted "no more than every 6 months." Immunity from the vaccines tends to peak at 3 to 4 months, and then drops off, she added, and multiple vaccinations have not been shown to be more beneficial, indicating that more frequent vaccination is probably unnecessary.

What if the patient gets COVID and recovers? Should they stay on the every-6-months schedule? "You can wait 3 months to get another dose of vaccine" after infection, Kotton said of her approach. "There it is ... don't make it complicated."

Checking Antibody Levels, Neutralization Assays Not Recommended

Segev said that in the early days of the pandemic, "there was a time where I felt that checking antibody levels was really important" for immunocompromised patients, "and that we could use those to guide, on an individual level, when it's time for a booster -- who needed three doses, who needed four doses."

However, those days are gone. Antibody levels are, in general, not considered useful anymore because of the fact that most people now have some level of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, either from natural infection or vaccination, and neutralizing antibody assays are not recommended to assess vaccine response, he said.

One overlooked problem, Kotton pointed out, is that immunocompromised people are typically excluded from vaccination trials, and as a result, "we don't know how to best protect them."

She said that although the CDC recommends against checking antibody titers in clinical practice, the FDA accepts immunobridging data that rely on neutralizing antibody titers as markers for how well COVID vaccines work. "There's mixed messaging," she noted, regarding whether such testing is useful or not.

Individuals who are immunocompromised are not a small group. A recent analysis of National Health Interview Survey data showed that an estimated 6.6% of U.S. adults reported that they were immunocompromised -- over double the oft-cited percentage of 2.7% to 3%. This percentage may have increased in recent years due to wider use of immunosuppressive therapies or a general increase in awareness of conditions.

What Does the CDC Say?

A 2023 study found that, as of Aug. 6, 2022, only 41% of immunocompromised individuals enrolled in a large U.S. integrated delivery network had received four doses of mRNA COVID vaccine, and only 1% had received the recommended five doses.

Vaccine hesitancy wasn't at play, the authors concluded. Rather, they posited that the complexity of COVID vaccine recommendations for immunocompromised individuals had probably "caused confusion among both the lay and medical communities" about when they should be receiving boosters.

In a nutshell, the CDC has stuck to general recommendations for COVID vaccination in people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised. According to their recommendations, everyone ages 6 months and older who is moderately or severely immunocompromised should get at least one dose of a 2023-2024 updated COVID vaccine, but depending on the number of doses previously received, they may need more than that one dose of updated vaccine.

Notably, the CDC also advises that people who are immunocompromised and 65 and older who received one dose of any updated 2023-2024 COVID vaccine should receive one additional dose of the vaccine at least 2 months after the previous updated dose.

Roy Chemaly, MD, MPH, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told MedPage Today that, anecdotally, he has not seen vaccine hesitancy or fatigue among immunocompromised patients.

"I think patients want to get vaccinated, but unless it is recommended by their physician, they may not think about it," he said. "So we need to remind our providers that they need to still keep reiterating the value of vaccines."

Katherine Kahn is a staff writer at MedPage Today, covering the infectious diseases beat. She has been a medical writer for over 15 years.

Disclosures

Diefenbach reported serving on an advisory board to AstraZeneca.

Kotton reported no relevant financial disclosures.

Segev has consulted for AstraZeneca, CareDx, Moderna Therapeutics, Novavax, and Regeneron, and has received speaker fees from AstraZeneca, CareDx, Houston Methodist, Northwell Health, Optum Health Education, Sanofi, and WebMD.

Chemaly has been a consultant to ADMA Biologics, Janssen, Merck/MSD, Partner Therapeutics, Takeda, AiCuris, Roche/Genentech, Astellas, Tether, Oxford Immunotec, Karius, Moderna, InflaRx, and Ansun Pharmaceuticals.

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How Often Should Immunocompromised People Get a COVID Booster? - Medpage Today

Covid-19 vaccine uptake among children and young people was low across all four nations, compared to other age groups, according to the first research study to look at data from all four UK nations.

It also revealed that uptake further reduced for second and booster vaccinations.

Uptake of Covid-19 vaccination was associated with age and sex of the child and young person, as well as number of people and vaccination status of the household.

The research, led by Professor Rhiannon Owen at Swansea University and Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh at the University of Edinburgh,linked health and administrative data to explore Covid-19 vaccine uptake in over 3.4 million children and young people aged between 5 and 17 in the UK.

The research, published in Nature Communications, was a collaboration between Swansea University, the University of Oxford, Queen's University Belfast, the University of Edinburgh, and Strathclyde University.

The study looked at anonymised data between August 4, 2021, and May 31, 2022. It explored the factors influencing vaccine uptake among children and young people, including sex, age, and household factors, while accounting for delays in vaccine uptake due to infection.

The study used multi-state modelling and meta-analysis techniques to identify key demographic variables influencing vaccine uptake among children and young people on a national scale.

The study showed that across the UK nations 35 per cent of children and young people received the first vaccine, 21 per cent received the second, and 2 per cent received the booster dose. During the study period 13 per cent tested positive for Covid-19 and 133 died of all-causes.

Children and young people aged five to 11 years old were 90 per cent less likely to receive their first Covid-19 vaccine, and 12 to 15-year-olds were 42 per cent less likely compared to 16 to 17-year-olds.

The researchers revealed that children and young people in unvaccinated households were 81 per cent less likely to receive their first Covid-19 vaccine compared to children and young people from households with at least one vaccinated adult.

Males were 7 per cent less likely to receive their first vaccine compared to females, and children and young people residing in single adult households were 11 per cent less likely to receive their first vaccine compared to children living in households with two people.

First author Sarah Aldridge, researcher and data scientist at Population Data Science at Swansea, said: Our research emphasises the critical role of prioritising Covid vaccination efforts for children and young people. The data highlights the necessity for targeted interventions to address specific risk factors, ensuring widespread protection and mitigating potential impacts on this age group.

To prepare for possible future pandemics, understanding and addressing vaccination differences among vulnerable populations are critical to effective public health strategies."

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New study provides insights into Covid-19 vaccine uptake among children and young people - Swansea University

A physical therapist suggests in an Instagram post viewed thousands of times that Covid-19 vaccines may exacerbate thyroid problems. But the study cited fails to show a causal relationship -- and the authors say rare side effects should not deter vaccination, which public health agencies worldwiderecommend.

"This is how the Covid vaccine can actually be worsening your thyroid condition, especially if you're a woman," says Austin Lakein a clip posted March 11, 2024.

The physical therapist adds that if someone "recently noticed more weight gain or fatigue after getting the vaccine, this may be connected."

The claim is the latest in a wave of misinformationabout Covid-19 vaccines, whichresearchersestimate havesaved millions of lives.

Lake cites a 2023 study titled "Insights into new-onset autoimmune diseases after Covid-19 vaccination" (archived here). The paper, published in the peer-reviewed journal Autoimmunity Reviews, focuses on the shot's potential links to rare autoimmune diseases.

While the study says the vaccines "may cause rare autoimmune diseases," it also notes "a causal relationship between Covid-19 vaccination and these autoimmune phenomena needs to be further explored."

The authors also say the benefits of inoculation "far outweigh the possible risks."Public health authorities say coronavirus vaccination is safe and effective at preventing severe illness and death (archived here and here).

"What the speaker doesn't mention at all is that while there may beactive investigation into whether Covid-19 vaccination is associated with new onset autoimmune conditions, there is strong evidence that Covid-19 infection is associated with new onset autoimmune conditions," said Devon Greyson, a public health researcher at the University of British Columbia (archived here), on March 15.

AFP contacted the authors of the study for comment, but a response was not forthcoming.

Story continues

To support his claim, Lake references other scientific studies -- but two were published prior to the pandemic.

One2015 paper (archived here) focuses on disparities in symptoms of hypothyroidism, a deficiency of hormones produced by the thyroid gland (archived here), between different genders. Another published in 1988 (archived here) looks at hypothyroidism tied to autoimmune causes.

Meanwhile, the American Thyroid Association said in January 2023 that it had found no evidence of an increase in thyroid problems among Covid-19 vaccinated patients (archived here).

"In this largest vaccinated group analysis to date, there was no significant increase in the incidence of thyroid problems in the 56 days after Covid-19 vaccination by either the inactivated virus or by mRNA," the professional group said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told AFP on March 15, 2024 that "authorized and approved Covid-19 vaccines have been administered under the most comprehensive and intensive vaccine safety monitoring effort in US history."

"Extensive research and safety monitoring has not established an association between Covid-19 vaccination and thyroid disease or any autoimmune diseases with one exception: evidence of an increased risk of Guillain-Barr Syndrome (GBS) was found among adults after receipt of the Janssen Covid-19 vaccine, which is no longer available for use in the United States," the agency said.

Tara Kirk Sell, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (archived here), told AFP that "study after study has shown that, while there are small risks that can be associated with vaccination against Covid-19, these are much smaller than risks from the disease itself."

She added that "leveraging existing fears and concerns is a common tactic" to spread disinformation about Covid-19.

"In this case, cancer, heart disease and autoimmune disease affect large segments of the population, so this rumor will have a lot of salience with many people and leverage that towards virality," Sell said March 14.

AFP has fact-checked other false and misleading claims about Covid-19here.

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Physical therapist misleadingly ties Covid vaccine to thyroid problems - Yahoo News UK

Starting Monday, March 18, people at highest risk for severe illness from COVID-19 can book another vaccine dose. The spring dose will be available from March 25 to May 31.

Nova Scotia is following recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) to provide people at highest risk a spring dose. This includes:

It is recommended that people wait six months after their last COVID-19 vaccine or infection to get a vaccine dose but a shorter interval of at least three months is allowed for the spring dose.

COVID-19 cases are steady in Nova Scotia, and it remains important that those who are at highest risk of infection get their spring dose to prevent severe illness, said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotias Chief Medical Officer of Health. People who arent eligible for a spring dose and are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines are still well protected.

People who did not receive a dose in the fall or winter can continue to get the vaccine, even if they are not eligible for this specific the spring campaign.

Appointments can be booked online at https://novascotia.ca/vaccination. Those who are unable to book online can schedule an appointment by calling 1-833-797-7772, seven days a week.

NACIs recommendations on an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose for people at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/publications/vaccines-immunization/national-advisory-committee-immunization-guidance-additional-dose-covid-19-vaccines-spring-2024-individuals-high-risk-severe-illness-due-covid-19/naci-statement-2024-01-12.pdf

More information on who is considered moderately to severely immunocompromised: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/immunocompromised/

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Spring COVID-19 Vaccine Update | Government of Nova Scotia News Releases - Government of Nova Scotia

Tuesday, March 19th 2024 - 18:35 UTC The Public Prosecutor's Office must now decide whether to press charges against Bolsonaro

Brazil's Federal Police (PF) Tuesday indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly forging his Covid-19 vaccination records. The case now goes to the Public Prosecutor's Office for a final decision on whether or not to press formal charges against the former head of state, his then aide-de-camps Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, and Congressman Gutemberg Reis as well as 14 other people listed in the investigation.

Bolsonaro and members of his family are believed to have falsely entered information into the Health Ministry's database to obtain proof of vaccination to be granted entry into the United States. The retired Army captain has denied asking for such favors and claimed he found out about the case when it came out in the press. Bolsonaro has also denied ever taking the Covid-19 vaccine. He repeatedly dismissed the importance of vaccines and social distancing measures during the pandemic despite Covid-19 killing over 700,000 people while his administration ignored several emails from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer offering to sell millions of doses.

Last year, the PF seized Bolsonaro's mobile phone and other items during a raid at his home as part of the investigation into the case.

Cid's wife, Gabriela Santiago admitted that she had used a fake vaccination certificate against Covid-19 and blamed her husband for the fraud. Cid's three daughters as well as Bolsonaro's 12-year-old daughter are believed to have obtained these forged documents. Cid was arrested in May and has also been formally accused in the police report.

The seal of secrecy on the PF file was lifted Tuesday (19) by Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre De Moraes after parts of it were published by G1 earlier in the day. The magistrate argued that there was no longer any need to maintain secrecy.

The evidence collected throughout this investigation is convergent in demonstrating that Jair Messias Bolsonaro acted with conscience and will in determining that his Chief of Staff intermediated the insertion of false Covid-19 vaccination data into the Ministry of Health's systems for the benefit of himself and his daughter, the PF report states.

Bolsonaro left for the US with his family and aides on December 30, after losing the 2022 presidential election. According to PF Chief Fbio Alvarez Shor, Bolsonaro needed a fake vaccination card to be allowed to enter the United States while he waited for the outcome of the doomed Jan. 8, 2023 coup d'tat.

According to Brazil's Health Ministry-issued vaccination card, Bolsonaro was vaccinated on July 19, 2021, at the Parque Peruche Basic Health Unit (UBS), north of So Paulo. However, Bolsonaro was not in So Paulo on that date and the vaccination batch listed in the Ministry's system was not available on that date at the facility where the immunization allegedly took place.

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Police indict Bolsonaro in vaccine certification fraud probe - MercoPress

Cancer COVID-19 Vaccine

Published on: 18 Mar 2024 | Editor: Pablo Rougerie

Health Feedback is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to science education. Our reviews are crowdsourced directly from a community of scientists with relevant expertise. We strive to explain whether and why information is or is not consistent with the science and to help readers know which news to trust. Please get in touch if you have any comment or think there is an important claim or article that would need to be reviewed.

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Steve Kirsch promotes flawed study making false claim about COVID-19 vaccines and cancer risk - Health Feedback

Brazil's Donald Trump-loving ex-president, already under investigation for trying to overturn his election loss, was accused Tuesday of tampering with a public health database to fake his vaccination against COVID-19.

Jair Bolsonaro planted false information in a governmentdatabase to make it appear that he, his 12-year-old daughter and members of his entourage had received the COVID-19 jab, police said.

Bolsonaro, dubbed the Trump of the Tropics, and aides allegedly fiddled with the health ministry's database ahead of a December 2022 visit to the U.S., which required proof of vaccination for entry.He has been compared to Trump in part because his followers stormed Brazils Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace last year in an echo of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The charges, released by Brazils Supreme Court, marked the first criminal indictment of the former president, who railed against vaccines while in office, even as the coronavirus killed nearly 700,000 Brazilians.

Bolsonaro had no immediate comment.

The countrys high court last year barred the far-right firebrand from running for office until 2030, ruling he had abused his power during the 2022 campaign and cast unfounded doubts on the country's electronic voting system. He was endorsed in that election by former President Donald Trump, an enthusiastic backer.

"He is a wonderful man, and has my Complete & Total Endorsement!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

More: Brazil investigates after storming of Congress by backers of Bolsonaro, known as 'Trump of Tropics'

Thousands of Bolsonaros supporters rioted in the capital, Brasilia, on Jan. 8, 2023, soon after the inauguration of President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva, trashing the Supreme Court and other government buildings.

Investigators are probing Bolsonaros possible link to those riots, as well as allegations that he tried to sneak two sets of expensive diamond jewelry into Brazil and prevent them from being incorporated into the presidency's public collection. He has asserted his innocence in all the investigations while claiming to be a victim of political persecution.

Story continues

Brazil's prosecutor-general's office hasnt yet decided if it will file charges against Bolsonaro in the fake vaccine case.

As the coronavirus scythed its way across the globe, Bolsonaro vowed not to get vaccinated, and his government ignored offers to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. In September 2021, he flouted a vaccination requirement at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Several members of the Brazilian delegation later tested positive.

Fifteen months later, following his reelection loss, Bolsonaro was on a plane to Miami, allegedly with a fake vaccination certificate. Police said the nurse listed in the records as having administered the shot denied doing so and was no longer working at the center at the time of the supposed vaccination, Reuters reported.

More than 89% of Brazilians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Contributing: Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jair Bolsonaro faked his COVID-19 shot, Brazil police say

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Brazil's ex-president, the 'Trump of the Tropics,' charged with faking Covid-19 vaccination - Yahoo News Canada