This is the video that demonstrates the extra measures a woman took to ensure that her co-worker would not skip out on getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in northeastern Brazil.
The viral footage shows Ana Andrade keeping a tight grip on the rope that was tied around Cícero de Oliveira’s belly as he waited to be called on at a vaccination site in Rio Largo, Alagoas, on Sunday.
The 66-year-old woman told Brazilian news outlet TNH1 that the president of the company she works for had asked her to accompany 48-year-old friend and another co-worker to the appointment.
She noticed he had become increasingly afraid of getting the immunization and as a joke as the staff at the health center to get her a rope to keep de Oliveira still.
‘He was shaking all over, afraid to get the vaccine,’ Andrade said. ‘I tied up Cicero and took him to the (waiting) room. There, I tied is legs too and said, ‘now you can run.”
Ana Andrade (right) keeps a tight grip on the rope that was tied around Cícero de Oliveira’s (left) belly as he waited to be called on at a vaccination site in Alagoas, Brazil, on Sunday. Andrade said the idea of using the rope to restrain he co-worker was done as a joke after she noticed he kept shaking his legs as he waited to get his second COVID-19 immunization shot
Cícero de Oliveira gets his second coronavirus shot while he was tied with a rope
De Oliveira was thankful for his longtime friend’s sudden idea, which relaxed his worries after encountering an issue with his initial dose.
The pair work together at the Asa dos Ventos Residents’ Association in Rio Largo.
‘I don’t like the vaccine. Fear is something that kills us, you know?’ De Oliveira said. ‘The good thing is that everything worked out. I took both doses and everything worked out.’
Ana Andrade told Brazilian news outlet TNH1 that her co-worker Cícero de Oliveira was scared to get his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination after he encountered issues with the initial shot
Cícero de Oliveira was thankful that his longtime friend Ana Andrade accompanied him to get his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine at a health center in Brazil. The visit went viral after he was caught on camera with a rope tied around his belly
With more than 150 million already fully vaccinated, Andrade said she will gladly provide her services to the other 163 million who are awaiting their second doses.
‘Please, whoever hasn’t had the vaccine, go take it. It gives a little reaction, but it’s normal,’ she said. ‘The vaccine is protection. If you’re afraid, call me.’
According to data updated Tuesday by Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Research, Brazil is third behind the United States and India with 25,634,781 COVID-19 infections reported.
The South American nation – the epicenter of the pandemic in the Latin America region – is second to the U.S. with 628,356 confirmed deaths.
