News of the gang’s action went viral last week on social media, with 2N praised as a “modern-day Robin Hood.” 
 
 A wanted drug dealer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil kidnapped medical staff so that his community could be vaccinated against the current crisis of yellow fever in the country, local media reported. 
 
 Thomaz Vieira Gomes, also known as 2N, kidnapped two male nurses from the Itauna vaccination post, along with his gang. The group took as many syringes and vaccine doses as they could find, then transported the nurses and equipment to one of the poorest favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Salgueiro. 
 
 The gang then watched over as the nurses administered vaccines to the community over the course of two hours. The nurses were driven back to their workplace after they were done. 
 
 Thomaz Vieira Gomes, a king. https://t.co/2RbWfUwv3K — Oga Jeffo (@J_Etse) February 14, 2018 
 
 In their report, the two health workers said the kidnappers were not aggressive, saying they only carried out their actions because many in the Salgueiro pueblo were not able to visit immunization centers to get their yellow fever shot. 
 
 News of the gang’s action went viral last week on social media, with 2N praised as a “modern-day Robin Hood.” 
 
 State deputy Carlos Minc, a former Minister of Environment under Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s presidency, also took to Twitter to comment that the act was a “public service.” 
 
 The Municipal Health Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro has said they will open an administrative process to investigate the incident. ||||| Close 
 
 A Brazilian drug gang pulled off an act of kindness in one of Rio de Janeiro's poorest neighborhoods. The gang kidnapped two nurses from the Itauna vaccination post, taking as many syringes and vaccines doses as they could carry. They preceded to take them to the Salgueiro, one of Rio de Janeiro's poorest favelas. 
 
 The gang forced the nurses to vaccinate all the inhabitants of the neighborhood against yellow fever. 
 
 Robin Hood Act 
 
 The leader of the drug gang, Thomaz Vieira Gomes, along with his gang kidnapped two male nurses on Jan. 27. The two nurses were taken to Salgueiro so that the people from the neighborhood would be able to be vaccinated. For two hours, gang members supervised the nurses while they administered yellow fever vaccines. 
 
 After the vaccines were given to the people, members of the gang took the nurses back to the vaccination outpost. Both workers reported that the gang members were not aggressive with them when they kidnapped them to give the vaccines. 
 
 Gomes and his gang were said to have carried out this radical approach because there were many people in the neighborhood who were not able to visit the vaccination outposts. 
 
 Gomes is known on 2N. He is wanted in Brazil, authorities have a $3,000 for any information on his whereabouts. Former Brazilian Minister of Environment Carlos Minc praised Gomes for being able to get the neighborhood vaccinated but also pointed it out that this was due to a broken healthcare system. 
 
 Yellow Fever Outbreak 
 
 Brazil is currently going through a yellow fever outbreak since the beginning of 2017. Government officials said that the outbreak was stopped in Sep. 2017. Outbreaks began in areas close to Sao Paulo. 
 
 About 53 people have died in Brazil since July 1, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. More than half of the deaths occurred at the beginning of January. 
 
 Yellow fever is spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. Symptoms begin three to six days after being bitten, it lasts about three to four days. It can seem like the flu at first but then may develop jaundice, fever, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. Yellow fever gets its name from people becoming jaundiced or yellowish in color. 
 
 Brazil has been affected by limited supplies of the yellow fever vaccine. In order to extend the supply, the government had to give one-fifth the standard dose. There are still large numbers of people that haven't been vaccinated against the disease. 
 
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 TAG Brazil, vaccines 
 
 © 2018 Tech Times, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. ||||| A Brazilian drug trafficker has been praised on social media as a modern-day Robin Hood after he kidnapped two nurses, stole vaccines and syringes and ordered the medical staff to inoculate residents in one of the poorest areas in the country’s southeast. 
 
 Thomaz Viera Gomez has made headlines in the local press for acts of charity over the past year even as authorities have issued successive warrants for his arrest. His most recent gesture of generosity, to combat yellow fever, which has swept poverty-stricken areas of Brazil, has seen him lauded primarily as a hero rather than a villain. 
 
 Related: People are beating monkeys to death in Brazil amid panic over yellow fever 
 
 The drug gang leader, known on the street as 2N, held hostage two nurses from a vaccination center before transporting them and their equipment to one of the poorest favelas in Rio de Janeiro. 
 
 The Latin American television station Telesur reported that Gomez’s gang oversaw the nurses as they administered vaccinations over a two-hour period in the Salgueiro favela. Once they had finished administering the injections they were returned to their workplace. 
 
 AFP PHOTO / Mauro PIMENTEL 
 
 In a report on the incident, the health workers said their kidnappers had treated them well and without any aggression. They said they had complied with the hostage takers because many Salgueiro residents hadn’t been given access to immunization centers. 
 
 Despite the illegality of Gomez and his gang’s actions, officials have praised the hostage taking. Carlos Minc, a state deputy and a former minister of the environment, wrote on Twitter that the immunizations had been done as an act of “public service.” 
 
 At the same time Rio’s municipal health body has said it will open an investigation into the incident. 
 
 In March last year, local press reported Gomez had inadvertently caused a riot in Salgueiro after throwing bundles of cash to local residents. 
 
 At the same time, law enforcement increased the reward for information leading to Gomez’s arrest to the equivalent of $3,000. He is estimated to have roughly 100 men at his disposal, according to the local press. He rose to power following the arrest of trafficker Marcelo da Silva Leitão, in June of 2016. Gomez reportedly received orders from Antônio Hilário Ferreira, who is in federal prison.
– Wanted gang leader Thomaz Viera Gomez has been dubbed Brazil's very own Robin Hood, thanks to his alleged involvement in what may be one of the most unconventional kidnappings ever, reports Newsweek. That's because the two men Gomez, or "2N," is accused of kidnapping on Jan. 27 are nurses who were ordered to vaccinate residents of one of Rio de Janeiro's slums. According to TV station Telesur, Gomez and his cronies stole syringes and yellow fever vaccines from a vaccination center before forcing the two nurses to leave with them. They then took them to the Salgueiro favela, or slum, where they were instructed to administer vaccinations over two hours. The nurses were then returned to their place of work. Brazil faced an outbreak of yellow fever, spread by infected mosquitoes, last year. And though government officials said it was over by September, more than half of 53 deaths from yellow fever since July occurred last month, per Tech Times. The nurses told local media the kidnappers weren't aggressive and had only the poor residents of Salgueiro in mind because they didn't have access to vaccination centers. Former environment minister Carlos Minc went as far as to describe his latest act as a "public service," per Telesur. In another incident lending to his Robin Hood persona, Gomez is said to have caused a riot last March after throwing bunches of cash to locals in Salgueiro.