Bolsonaro’s government ignored repeated pleas to sign additional vaccine contracts. He publicly questioned the reliability of shots and mocked contract terms, once suggesting Pfizer recipients would have no legal recourse if they “turned into alligators.” Brazil faced vaccine shortages and doses were released in phases by age and health risk.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was detained in Brasilia because of a possible "attempted escape" to an embassy before he was to begin his prison sentence.

Brazil's federal police on Saturday took former President Jair Bolsonaro into custody due to flight risk after he took a soldering iron to his ankle monitor, ending months of house arrest as he appeals his conviction for plotting a coup.

In September, Bolsonaro was diagnosed with skin cancer. The announcement came as the beleaguered far-right leader was discharged from a hospital in the capital Brasilia, where he was rushed under prison guard after suffering violent bouts of hiccups,

Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro could be edging closer to serving 27 years in prison after the country's Supreme Court rejected an appeal made by his legal defense earlier this month. However,