Brazilians favor COVID-19 vaccinating of children, oppose need for prescription - hearing

FILE PHOTO: Residents line up in front of the "Busao da Vacina" or Big bus of the vaccine, a project of the Brazilian Red Cross, in partnership with the Minas Gerais state government to vaccinate people against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ouro Branco, Brazil, July 19, 2021. Picture taken July 19, 2021. REUTERS/Washington Alves

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Health Ministry said on Tuesday that most participants in a public hearing on vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 for COVID-19 disagreed with the need for a doctor's prescription, but it will still recommend it.

The government of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, a vaccine skeptic, has opposed the vaccination of children, even though Brazil's health regulator Anvisa has authorized the use of vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc.