Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro knows the risks of the coronavirus more than most, having famously caught the disease before getting pecked by an emu-like bird when trying to cheer himself up in quarantine last year. However, despite his traumatic experience, he’s refused to take his COVID-19 shots, and will defy a vaccine mandate for the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. The New York Mayor’s office has made clear that everyone who wants to attend the meeting must show proof of vaccination to enter the debate hall. But the UN’s Secretary General António Guterres has admitted that he can’t force heads of state to get the vaccine, and Bolsonaro reportedly said Thursday that he’ll attend the meeting despite his lack of inoculation. The president previously said he’ll be the “last Brazilian” to get a vaccine.
