Brazil Sets Record Daily COVID-19 Infections, Senate Investigate India's Vaccine Purchases

Illustration of COVID-19. (Wikimedia Commons/Alberto Giuliani)

JAKARTA - Brazil has again recorded a dark record of daily COVID-19 infections, amid allegations of violations of purchasing vaccines at higher prices by the government of President Jail Bolsonaro.

Brazil recorded a new daily record of COVID-19 infections after registering 115,228 cases of COVID-19 infection last Wednesday, according to data from Brazil's Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, last Thursday, Brazil recorded 73,602 new infections with 2,032 deaths. This brings Brazil to a total of 18,243,483 cases of infection with 509,282 deaths, according to Worldometers, Friday 25 June.

The record of 500 thousand deaths last weekend, made Brazil hit by a national protest that the government's handling of the pandemic was considered less than optimal. To date, only 12 percent of Brazil's population has been fully vaccinated.

In the midst of the problem of surging cases of infection and death, the Brazilian government is currently under supervision and investigation regarding the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is considered more expensive.

Illustration of COVID-19 in Brazil. (Wikimedia Commons/Alice Mafra)

After failing to respond to Pfizer's vaccine offer that delayed vaccination last year, the government instead struck a deal for a more expensive vaccine made by India's Bharat Biotech.

A Brazilian Senate Committee is investigating the allegations related to Bharat amid a wider investigation into the government's response. A Brazilian Health Ministry official told prosecutors he faced internal pressure from an aide to the health minister who had been replaced by Eduardo Pazuello to buy the Bharat vaccine.

The Senate panel investigating the government's handling of the pandemic on Wednesday formally summoned the logistics department official, Luís Ricardo Miranda, to testify.

Senate committees and prosecutors are investigating why the government sought to seal a deal for a more expensive vaccine from Bharat, while ignoring an earlier offer last year from Pfizer.

Miranda told prosecutors she was pressured by Alex Lial Marinho, an aide to one of Bolsonaro's closest allies, former Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello.

Miranda was first quoted in the O Globo newspaper on Wednesday as saying she brought her concerns, with documents, to Bolsonaro on March 20, and the president said he would speak to the federal police chief. The meeting was brokered by Miranda's brother, Congressman Luís Miranda.

"This is an apparent attempt to take public money for no documented purpose, with inflated value and ulterior motives," the congressman said.

The Health Ministry did not immediately respond to a request to interview Marinho, and Reuters was unable to contact him independently.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Bolsonaro's Presidential Secretary Onyx Lorenzoni said there was no peddling influence, suggesting the allegations were based on false documents.

The COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil. Wikimedia Commons/Governo do Estado de São Paulo)

The investigation raises problems for President Bolsonaro, with questions likely to arise about how he responds to Miranda's allegations. It also raises awkward questions for Pazuello, who faced criminal and civil investigations in his handling of the pandemic while serving as minister.

Miranda's two brothers are expected to testify before Senate investigators this Friday. Marinho, an aide to the former health minister, has also been called to testify before the investigation, which has unsealed his bank, telephone, and tax records.

Brazilian federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into a contract worth 1.6 billion reais (US$320 million) for 20 million doses of Bharat Biotech's vaccine. Prosecutors cited relatively high prices, speedy talks, and delayed regulatory approvals as red flags for contracts signed in February.

Separately in a statement, Bharat said the price of his vaccine was consistently $15 - $20 per dose for foreign governments, the range at which Brazilian contracts fall. Despite signing a deal with Brazil in February, Bharat says it has not shipped any vaccines as it awaits approval and official purchase orders.