Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro questioned the WHO's Tedros Adhanom on the effectiveness of vaccines and immunity at the G20 summit in Rome.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom told Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that the WHO is “not recommending” vaccine passports or lockdowns “for now,” and that the vaccines do “not prevent COVID.”

At the 2021 G20 Summit in Rome on October 30-31, President Bolsonaro and WHO Director Adhanom discussed the state of COVID vaccinations, vaccine passports, the economic costs of lockdowns and other issues pertaining to the world’s response to the declared COVID-19 pandemic.

Their discussion was recorded, and Adhanom spoke English while Bolsonaro communicated with the Ethiopian public-health czar through an interpreter. Bolsonaro began the discussion by asking the Adhanom about the effect of COVID restrictions, including lockdowns, on the economy, and if there was any “prior consideration” by the WHO regarding the implementation of these measures.

Adding to his concern about the economic tolls of lockdowns on the poor, Bolsonaro said “all over the world there are people who need to work to feed themselves” and that if lockdowns were to continue “the economy will collapse.”

Adhanom did not respond to the questions directly but instead said he does not see a “need” for further lockdowns in Brazil due to high vaccination rates in that country. He also said that as long as Brazil  continues recommending masking and handwashing, this would stem the need for lockdowns.

The Brazilian president grilled Adhanom about vaccine passports and whether the WHO had an official stance on the matter. The WHO director responded that the organization does not recommend them because in some places, like Africa, access to the vaccines is “low,” which would mean that people could be the victims of “discrimination” if they are not vaccinated.

Bolsonaro has been open about his choice to not take an abortion-tainted COVID vaccine, instead relying on natural immunity. “I’ve decided not to get vaccinated. I’m looking at new studies, I already have the highest immunization, why would I get vaccinated?” he said on a Brazilian radio program last month.

There are currently more than 100 research studies that show that naturally acquired immunity is equal to or more robust and superior to existing vaccines.

He is also on record saying that he would be “the last Brazilian” to be vaccinated. In addition, last year he questioned the outlook that people have regarding the virus, saying that “Brazil must stop being a country of sissies … all of us are going to die one day.”

President Bolsonaro also told the global health official that “many who got the second dose [of the vaccine] are getting COVID.” Tedros Adhanom retorted that “the vaccine does not prevent COVID, but it does prevent serious illness and death.” Bolsonaro quickly responded that in spite of that claim, “in Brazil, many who got the second dose are

Adhanom shot back by saying that it was possible for people who were vaccinated to die if they had “comorbidities.” Last month, it was reported in Sweden and England that the majority of deaths associated with COVID were recorded from the “fully vaccinated.”

Bolsonaro then decried his concerns about not being able to stop mandatory vaccinations for children, to which Adhanom responded by saying the WHO doesn’t support giving the vaccine to children. The Brazilian president lamented that regarding the judicial authority needed to stop vaccine mandates in his country that his “hands are tied” and “the lives of our children are at stake.”

The push to vaccinate young children comes despite the fact that children face extremely low risk from COVID-19. This combined with the thousands of reports of serious adverse events and deaths following the jabs has led numerous experts to criticize the push to inject children with the experimental shots.

President Bolsonaro asked Adhanom about the origin of the virus, Adhanom laughed and said, “We are still studying it.”

Bolsonaro has been called a COVID “skeptic” for the stances that he has taken regarding the virus that have gone against the mainstream narrative. And has taken a strong stance against vaccine passports, telling a radio station that for him “freedom comes before everything else. If a citizen doesn’t want to get vaccinated, that’s his right and that’s the end of it.”