‘Where’s Zé Gotinha?’ Brazilian cartoon who promotes vaccines missing in hour of need

Last sighting of cartoon was in mid-December when he was filmed refusing to shake Jair Bolsonaro's hand at a health ministry event

He is a national treasure credited with helping free South America's largest nation from the scourge of polio and saving countless Brazilian lives.

But in Brazil's latest hour of need Ze Gotinha - a tear-shaped animation who has spent the last three decades promoting vaccination - has gone missing in action, as efforts to halt one of the most devastating Covid outbreaks on Earth fall afoul of the country's toxic politics.