Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga stands next to the mascot promoting the vaccination campaign as he gives shots of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
SAO PAULO — Brazil’s health minister tested positive for the coronavirus in New York after President Jair Bolsonaro spoke at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Brazil’s government said in a statement that Marcelo Quiroga was in good health and would remain in isolation in the United States. He got his first shot of coronavirus vaccine in January.
Other members of Brazil’s government in New York tested negative for the virus, the statement said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bolsonaro spoke at the General Assembly, flouting the requirement for all attendees to be vaccinated against the virus.
Ill last year with COVID-19, the disease that can be caused by the coronavirus, Bolsonaro has said several times over the last week that he remains unvaccinated. He said getting a shot is a personal, medical decision.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
Queiroga was photographed side by side with Bolsonaro on several occasions this week. Tuesday morning he tweeted a picture with first lady Michele Bolsonaro.
Queiroga had breakfast Monday with several employees of investment funds in New York.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, center left, eats pizza on a New York sidewalk in a photo uploaded to social media on September 20, 2021. (Tourism Minister Gilson Machado/Instagram)
Bolsonaro ate pizza on the sidewalk in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly, likely because he doesn’t meet the city’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements for indoor dining. The Big Apple currently requires anyone wanting to eat inside to provide proof of at least one shot and Bolsonaro says he is not vaccinated.
Advertisement
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
