Navigating complex waterways to reach remote communities in Brazil’s Amazon is only the first challenge for Waldir Bittencourt, a nurse vaccinating Indigenous and riverine people against the coronavirus. His anti-science message has made its way to Brazil’s remote communities. It’s being brought by certain missionaries, social media, fake news,” said anthropologist Aparecida Maria Neiva Vilaça, who works with Indigenous communities in the northern state of Rondonia. Evangelicals largely backed Bolsonaro in the 2018 presidential campaign, and some pastors in remote communities have contributed to spreading his message against getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Ethel Maciel, an epidemiologist who advised the government on its COVID-19 vaccination program, said remote communities in the Amazon are a priority, given their lack of health infrastructure and the large distances people must travel for proper medical care in Manaus.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 15, 2021 18:00 UTC