‘Solution for the pandemic is the vaccination campaign,’ says Queiroga in Brazil’s Senate CPI

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After the depositions of the first two Ministers of Health of Jair Bolsonaro’s government, the Pandemic CPI on Thursday, May 6, heard the current holder of the portfolio, Marcelo Queiroga, and the President-Director of the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA), Antonio Barra Torres.

In his statement, Queiroga said that “the solution to the pandemic is the vaccination campaign” and stressed that the development of vaccines is “a response from science” to the crisis. In reference to the high numbers of cases and deaths from Covid-19 in the country at the time he took office, the minister stressed that he took office in a closed ceremony because “there was nothing to celebrate.” Queiroga pointed out that he is heading a “technical” ministry and stressed the meetings with the WHO (World Health Organization) and the “partnerships” with municipal and state health secretariats that have occurred during his administration.

Marcelo Queiroga has been heading the Ministry of Health since March 23 this year. The cardiologist took office with the challenge of heading the portfolio at the worst moment of the pandemic in the country, when there were about 300,000 deaths in Brazil. The minister is strongly criticized for the slowness of the mass vaccination of the population.

Four summons requests, authored by the CPI’s rapporteur, Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), the vice-president, Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), and senators Alessandro Vieira (Cidadania-SE) and Eduardo Girão were passed by the committee for the current minister of Health’s testimony.

About the hearing with Barra Torres, legislators expect him to talk about the processes of releasing vaccines against Covid-19, as well as the recent process that led to the rejection of registration of the Sputnik V vaccine.

On Wednesday, May 5th, former Health Minister Nelson Teich was heard in the CPI and explained the reasons that caused him to leave his post less than a month after taking office, in 2020. The first holder of the portfolio in the Bolsonaro government, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, opened proceedings on Tuesday, May 4, and gave a long statement, in which he pointed out that the president ignored warnings about the severity of the crisis.

The ex-minister Eduardo Pazuello, who headed the portfolio during most of the pandemic, from May 2020 to March 2021, should be heard on May 19. His testimony was scheduled for Wednesday, May 5, but after the general claimed to have had contact with military personnel who tested positive for Covid-19, the hearing was postponed.