Brazil steps up efforts to check vaccination proof on borders

Brazil’s drug regulator Anvisa and the Federal Police started a joint operation today (Dec. 15) to expand efforts to check the proof of vaccination of people entering Brazil through land borders shared with Argentina and Paraguay.

Control barriers are to be installed, Anvisa reported, to check the flow on Friendship Bridge—linking Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil, with Ciudad del Este, in Paraguay—as well as on Tancredo Neves Bridge—also known as International Fraternity Bridge, connecting Foz do Iguaçu to Puerto Iguazú, in Argentina.

“In accordance with a provisional remedy ruling by the Supreme Court, issued by Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, Brazilian travelers and foreigners living in Brazil who leave the national territory as of Wednesday, December 15, will be required to produce proof they have been fully immunized in order to return to the country,” Anvisa states in a note.

The watchdog explains that the vaccination cycle is considered complete “after the application of the two doses or the single dose of an inoculation approved by Anvisa, the World Health Organization, or a sanitary authority in the country where the traveler received the vaccine, provided that the subsequent term necessary for immunization is observed (14 days for most vaccines available worldwide).”

Inspection

In this connection, carrying a vaccination certificate is “migratory requirement,” and the certificate an object to be inspected by Brazilian border authorities.

Exempted from the rule are those living in border areas, the so-called twin towns, whose territories lie on the border with neighboring countries. These people must demonstrate proof of residence, Anvisa stated.

Freight workers are also exempt from showing proof of vaccination.