Minister fires official who allegedly asked for kickback to purchase 400 million vaccine doses

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Ministry of Health’s logistics director had demanded US$1 in return for each vaccine dose purchased by the country.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health’s logistics director Roberto Ferreira Dias was dismissed from his position on Wednesday, amid growing allegations of irregularities in the purchase of vaccines against the coronavirus.

The decision, signed by Minister of the Presidency Luiz Eduardo Ramos and anticipated by the Ministry of Health was published in the Federal Gazette, although the reasons for the dismissal have not been disclosed.

The dismissal comes a few days after Dias was implicated in allegations of irregularities and corruption in the purchase of anti-Covid vaccines, which came to light during testimony before the Senate committee investigating potential omissions by the government of president Jair Bolsonaro in dealing with the pandemic.

Dias was accused of pressuring Health Ministry officials to expedite the import of the Indian Covaxin vaccine produced by Bharat Biotech, despite indications of potential irregularities in the contract, which provides for the acquisition of 20 million doses at a total price of US$320 million.

In addition, on Tuesday Folha de São Paulo newspaper reported that Dias had also asked for kickbacks from a representative of Davati Medical Supply in exchange for approving the purchase of millions of vaccine doses developed by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Specifically, he asked for US$1 per dose from AstraZeneca in order to complete the purchase of 400 million vaccines.

Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga announced on Tuesday that the contract signed for the purchase of the Covaxin vaccine will remain “suspended” until allegations of irregularities in these negotiations are clarified.

The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) will also be granted time to determine the Covaxin’s efficacy, something that the regulator has not yet done and which is decisive to authorize its import.

“It is ill-advised to import these vaccines at this time,” Queiroga declared at a press conference.

Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and has so far registered over 515,000 deaths and 18.5 million infections.

Source: Infobae