Polls reveal support for Bolsonaro fell sharply, but majority reject impeachment

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has witnessed a dip in support in the country, a poll by Datafolha showed.

Currently, the second wave of COVID-19 is wrecking the country's pandemic response. Even with dwindling support, the majority of Brazilians are against his impeachment.

The data from both the polls wasreleased by Datafolha on Friday. And in one of the polls, 40 per cent of respondents rated Bolsonaro's administration as bad or terrible. In December, 32 per cent had claimed the same.

Only a third of respondents rated his administration good or excellent. In an earlier poll from December, 37 per cent responded positively.

According to the Folha de S Paulo newspaper, this represents the biggest drop in approval for Bolsonaro since his government assumed power in 2019.

Critics have called Brazil's vaccine rollout slow, as the second of COVID-19 intensifies in the country. The country of 210 million people began rolling out vaccines last week.

Protests were witnessed in cities across the country this month. Many have asked for Bolsonaro's impeachment for his skewed response to the pandemic.

The new variant of the virus has now appeared in northern Brazil, putting more pressure on an already cramped healthcare system. This variant is considered more transmissible than the original strain. Owing to this, countries have banned entry for Brazilian travellers.

Bolsonaro has played down the pandemic multiple times and has said that he will not be taking the vaccine.

Another poll by Datafolha revealed that 53 per cent of respondents do not want the initiation of impeachment proceedings against Bolsonaro for how he handled the pandemic. This number went up from 50 per cent in a previous survey.

The surveys were conducted on January 20, 21 for which over 2,030 people were interviewed.