Friday, February 12, 2021

Indigenous leaders warn of missionaries turning Amazon villages against vaccines

https://news.yahoo.com/indigenous-leaders-warn-missionaries-turning-201329453.html

https://www.reuters.com/

Anthony Boadle
Thu, February 11, 2021, 3:13 PM

Medical teams working to immunize Brazil's remote indigenous villages against the coronavirus have encountered fierce resistance in some communities where evangelical missionaries are stoking fears of the vaccine, say tribal leaders and advocates.

On the São Francisco reservation in the state of Amazonas, Jamamadi villagers sent health workers packing with bows and arrows when they visited by helicopter this month, said Claudemir da Silva, an Apurinã leader representing indigenous communities on the Purus river, a tributary of the Amazon.

"It's not happening in all villages, just in those that have missionaries or evangelical chapels where pastors are convincing the people not to receive the vaccine, that they will turn into an alligator and other crazy ideas," he said by phone.

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