Covid 19 coronavirus: Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro's bizarre Pfizer vaccine rant

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has made some truly wild claims about the Covid-19 vaccine. Photo / Getty Images

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has gone on a bizarre rant about the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, suggesting the unknown side effects could include turning people into alligators.

The far-right leader's rant, which has since gone viral, comes after he branded Covid-19 a "little flu".

This week, Bolsonaro insisted he will not be getting the vaccine.

"In the Pfizer contract it's very clear: 'we're not responsible for any side effects'. If you turn into a alligator, it's your problem," Brazil's president said on Thursday.

"If you become superhuman, if a woman starts to grow a beard or if a man starts to speak with an effeminate voice, they will not have anything to do with it," he added.

The vaccine is currently undergoing tests in Brazil and is already being used in the US and the UK.

Brazil launched its Covid immunisation campaign this week.

Brazil’s Bolsonaro says the @pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 could turn human beings in alligators pic.twitter.com/y8ZobUFNKs

— Samuel Pancher (@SamPancher) December 17, 2020

While Bolsonaro said the vaccine would not be compulsory, the country's Supreme Court ruled differently on Thursday, saying the vaccine will be obligatory - although people cannot be "forced" to take it.

The court ruling means authorities can fine those who don't take the vaccine and they can also be banned from certain public spaces.

"It will be available for everyone that wants it. But me, I won't get vaccinated," Bolsonaro said of the vaccine.

"Some people say I'm giving a bad example. But to the imbeciles, to the idiots that say this, I tell them I've already caught the virus, I have the antibodies, so why get vaccinated?"

Brazil has had more than 7.1 million cases of coronavirus and nearly 185,000 deaths.

The country is currently battling a second wave of the pandemic.

In yet another sentence no one expected to write or read in 2020, a clarification is needed after the Brazilian president's statement: the Covid-19 vaccine will not cause anyone to turn into an alligator.