Rumors and conspiracy theories are swirling about the location of Zé Gotinha, the mascot for the country’s national vaccination program.
The scramble surrounding the costumed Zé Gotinha began on Wednesday after former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva drew attention to his recent absence.
“Where is our beloved Zé Gotinha?” Da Silva said in a speech criticizing President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic.
Zé Gotinha, whose name roughly translates to Joe Droplet and who looks like an overgrown Casper the Friendly Ghost, was created in the 1980s to help the Ministry of Health promote poliovirus vaccination and put children at ease.
‘The vaccine ads were very heavy. “They are associated with something terrible, tragic, life-threatening,” Carla Domingues, former coordinator of the 2011-19 national vaccination program, told the Associated Press.
Gotinha has changed that and due to its success he has since appeared regularly to warn about the importance of preventing measles, tuberculosis, whooping cough, diphtheria and, more recently, COVID-19.
But the last time Gotinha was seen in public during a ceremony in Brasilia was December 16, with the launch of the national vaccination program. The character, much loved among children, rejected Bolsonaro’s attempt to shake hands in the name of social distance.
Da Silva, a left-wing rival of Bolsonaro, presented his own theory on what happened to Gotinha: “Bolsonaro fired him because he thought he came from the Labor Party.”
One theory is that the mascot’s publicity services may not be needed at the moment, as Brazil is using its limited doses to not vaccinate older people and those in priority groups yet.
Many on social networks speculate about Gotinha’s fate. One person spoke of the drama that Gotinha was unemployed. Another one reinterpreted a typical poster of a missing child, with the image of the mascot and the caption ‘disappeared’.
“Cheers for the speedy recovery of Zé Gotinha. Only this hero can save us, ”said a Twitter user who speculated that the mascot might be recovering from an illness.
Since COVID-19 vaccinations began in Brazil, Bolsonaro has questioned its effectiveness. He has recently begun to return such skepticism, but still claims that drugs such as hydroxychloroquine may help prevent hospitalization, although it shows no benefits in rigorous studies.
Due to low stocks and slow rollout, less than 5% of Brazilians have so far shot at least one vaccination, according to the Brazilian National Council. But 79% of Brazilians want to be vaccinated, according to a poll published by the Datafolha on January 23. This is 6 percentage points higher than the previous poll in December.
On Friday, a drawing of Gotinha appeared on social media of Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of the president and a federal lawmaker. The mascot was depicted with a syringe in the form of an assault rifle. “Our weapon is the vaccine,” the legislature wrote.
The creator of Gotinha, artist Darlan Rosa, was horrified.
‘[Gotinha] was considered an educational character. There is nothing educational about a gun, ‘Rosa told the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper. Carlos Latuff, another cartoonist, drew an image in which Gotinha broke a gun over his knee.
Domingues, the former coordinator of the vaccination program, said Gotinha was an integral part of the vaccination efforts.
“It is believed that Gotinha vaccination would make a holiday for children, and it was a great success,” Domingues said. “He was one of the principals responsible for changing the perspective on immunization.”