The vaccine belongs to all Brazilians, not to any political faction
Em meados de outubro de 2020, o governador de São Paulo João Doria anunciou que a vacinação contra a COVID-19 seria obrigatória em seu estado assim que a Coronavac recebesse autorização regulatória — um gesto que era, ao mesmo tempo, afirmação jurídica e desafio político. Com os ensaios de Fase 3 chegando ao fim e mais de cinco mil voluntários brasileiros já imunizados sem efeitos adversos relatados, São Paulo se posicionava na vanguarda de uma corrida que transcendia a ciência e entrava no terreno das disputas de poder. A pergunta que pairava não era se a vacina funcionaria, mas se o país conseguiria tratá-la como bem coletivo antes que a política a consumisse.
- A declaração de obrigatoriedade da vacina por Doria colide diretamente com a postura do presidente Bolsonaro, que havia dito publicamente que ninguém seria forçado a se vacinar — contrariando uma lei que ele próprio havia sancionado.
- Mais de cinco mil voluntários brasileiros já receberam ao menos uma dose da Coronavac sem efeitos adversos registrados, e os dados finais da Fase 3 estavam prestes a ser entregues à ANVISA na segunda-feira seguinte.
- São Paulo aguarda apenas a confirmação de eficácia para protocolar imediatamente um pedido de autorização emergencial junto à ANVISA e iniciar a campanha de vacinação universal no estado.
- Na quarta-feira seguinte, Doria se reuniria com o ministro da Saúde e o diretor da ANVISA para pressionar por distribuição nacional, alertando contra o que chamou de 'guerras de vacinas' movidas por ideologia eleitoral.
- O verdadeiro teste não era científico, mas político: se o governo federal trataria a vacina como instrumento de saúde pública ou como mais um campo de batalha na polarização que marcou a resposta brasileira à pandemia.
Na tarde de uma sexta-feira de outubro de 2020, o governador João Doria anunciou que São Paulo tornaria a vacinação contra a COVID-19 obrigatória assim que a Coronavac obtivesse aprovação regulatória — com exceção apenas para quem apresentasse contraindicação médica. O anúncio chegava num momento preciso: a Fase 3 dos testes, conduzida com nove mil voluntários brasileiros em doze centros de pesquisa espalhados por cinco estados e o Distrito Federal, estava prestes a ser concluída naquele fim de semana. Mais de cinco mil desses voluntários já haviam recebido ao menos uma dose, sem efeitos adversos relatados até então.
A base legal para a obrigatoriedade já existia — o próprio presidente Bolsonaro havia sancionado legislação em fevereiro daquele ano permitindo a imunização compulsória. Mas Bolsonaro havia contradito essa lei ao declarar que ninguém seria forçado a tomar uma vacina contra a COVID. A fala de Doria era, portanto, tanto uma afirmação do que a lei permitia quanto uma provocação direta ao governo federal.
O governador estava agendado para se reunir na quarta-feira seguinte com o ministro da Saúde e o diretor da ANVISA para apresentar os dados dos ensaios e pleitear a distribuição nacional. Em seu discurso, apelou para que a vacina fosse tratada como bem público, acima de disputas ideológicas ou eleitorais, e alertou contra as chamadas 'guerras de vacinas'. A Coronavac já havia demonstrado segurança em ensaios com cinquenta mil voluntários na China, e a Sinovac conduzia testes em dez países, tendo obtido aprovação emergencial em seu país de origem.
Se os dados de eficácia confirmassem as expectativas, São Paulo protocolaria imediatamente o pedido de autorização emergencial junto à ANVISA. O estado estava pronto para agir. A questão que permanecia em aberto era se o governo Bolsonaro escolheria enxergar a vacina como resposta a uma crise de saúde pública — ou como mais um episódio da guerra política que havia marcado a pandemia no Brasil.
São Paulo's governor João Doria stood before reporters on a Friday afternoon in mid-October 2020 and made a declaration that cut through months of uncertainty: vaccination against COVID-19 would be mandatory in his state, with a single exception carved out for those whose doctors certified a medical reason to abstain.
The announcement arrived as the final phase of testing for Coronavac—a vaccine developed by China's Sinovac and set to be manufactured in Brazil by the Butantan Institute—was approaching its conclusion. Doria said the third and final trial phase would wrap up that weekend. More than five thousand of the nine thousand Brazilian volunteers enrolled across twelve research centers in five states and the federal capital had already received at least one dose, and so far, he reported, there had been no adverse effects worth noting.
The legal ground for mandatory vaccination already existed. President Jair Bolsonaro had signed legislation in February that year permitting compulsory immunization, though he had recently contradicted that law by declaring that no one could be forced to take a COVID vaccine. Doria's statement, then, was both a clarification of what the law allowed and a direct challenge to the federal government's stance.
The governor's real target, however, was not the legal question but the political one. He was scheduled to meet the next Wednesday with the federal health minister and the head of ANVISA, Brazil's drug regulatory agency, to present the trial data and push for nationwide distribution. In his remarks, Doria appealed directly to those officials—and by extension to Bolsonaro—to keep ideology out of the vaccine question. "It is not reasonable to imagine that the government will place ideology or partisan or electoral vision above what saves lives," he said. He framed the vaccine as belonging to all Brazilians, a public good that transcended politics, and he warned against what he called "vaccine wars."
The Coronavac trials had already shown promise elsewhere. In China, where fifty thousand volunteers had been tested, the vaccine demonstrated safety in its Phase 3 trials. Sinovac was running tests in ten countries total, and had already secured emergency approval for use in its home country. The Brazilian data, Doria explained, was being monitored simultaneously by ANVISA as it accumulated, and a summary would be delivered to the agency on Monday.
If the efficacy data held up, São Paulo would immediately file with ANVISA for emergency authorization to begin a vaccination campaign. The governor's message was clear: his state was ready to move, and he was calling on the federal government to match that urgency and set aside the political divisions that had marked Brazil's pandemic response.
What remained unresolved was whether Bolsonaro's government would treat the vaccine as a tool of public health or as another front in a political struggle. Doria's Wednesday meeting would be the test.
Citações Notáveis
It is not reasonable to imagine that the government will place ideology or partisan or electoral vision above what saves lives— Governor João Doria
São Paulo understands that the vaccine is Brazil's, a good belonging to all Brazilians— Governor João Doria
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did Doria feel the need to say the vaccine wouldn't be politicized? Wasn't that obvious?
Because it wasn't obvious at all. Bolsonaro had spent months contradicting his own health officials and casting doubt on vaccines generally. Doria was essentially saying: we're not going to play that game in São Paulo, and we're asking you not to either.
But he was announcing a mandatory policy. Doesn't that seem like a political move itself?
It was, in a way—but it was political in the direction of public health. He was using state power to protect people, not to score points. The real politics was in the federal government's hesitation.
What was the actual status of the vaccine at that moment?
Still in testing. Five thousand six hundred people had gotten at least one dose in Brazil. No serious side effects had emerged. But efficacy—whether it actually prevented COVID—was still being measured. That data was coming that weekend.
So Doria was announcing a policy based on incomplete information?
He was announcing a policy framework. Once the efficacy data came in, if it was good, São Paulo would ask for emergency authorization. He was saying: we're ready to move fast, and we're not going to wait for federal permission.
Did he think the federal government would block it?
He clearly worried they might. That's why he kept saying the vaccine belonged to all Brazilians, not to any political faction. He was trying to make it harder for Bolsonaro to say no.
What was at stake in that Wednesday meeting?
Everything. If the federal government refused to distribute Coronavac nationally, millions of Brazilians outside São Paulo would have no vaccine. Doria was trying to prevent that outcome before it happened.