Brazil’s government concedes purchase of only half of previously announced vaccines

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL – The Ministry of Health confirmed that only 280 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been contracted to date. That is, half of the 560 million units disclosed in the portfolio’s advertising campaign and in public statements by Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga.

The overstated figure was displayed in a Ministry of Health post on Twitter and used in a statement by Queiroga on April 30. “[But] it is clear that we do not have these doses in the Ministry of Health’s logistics department, because there is an international vaccine shortage,” the Minister said at the time.

The confirmation came in response to a request sent by deputy Gustavo Fruet (PDT-PR) to the Ministry of Health, who inquired about the exact amount of doses. The body is required to respond to requests of this nature, under penalty of the Minister being found guilty of a crime of responsibility.

According to the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, the Ministry concedes that 281,023,470 doses of vaccines against Covid-19 have been acquired and that another 281,889,400 are still in the “negotiation phase”.

Of the more than 281 million doses reported but not confirmed, 210 million are from AstraZeneca, which should arrive by the end of the year. However, no contract guaranteeing the production of vaccines in this period has been signed.

The list also includes doses from Coronavac (30 million) and from the international Covax Facility consortium (41 million), managed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Source: Estadão