Revisiting Brazil’s Public Health Rebellion (A Century Before Bolsonaro)
Revisiting Brazil’s Public Health Rebellion (A Century Before Bolsonaro)
What do 1904’s smallpox vaccination riots in Rio de Janeiro tell us about today’s Brazil?
Brazil’s current public health crisis may be unprecedented, but the scores of protesters raging against lockdowns in front of hospitals full of COVID-19 patients bear a striking resemblance to an episode from the country’s past.
In 1904, Rio de Janeiro was Brazil’s capital and its most important city. That year, the federal government enacted a law making smallpox vaccinations mandatory – and in November, shortly after officials explained how they would enforce the new law, the city erupted in riots, with thousands of people fighting police and the army in the streets of downtown...
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