Rio nurse who simulated administering Covid-19 vaccine charged, could face jail

RIO DE JANEIRO BRAZIL – Nurse Rozemary Gomes Pita, 42 years old, who simulated administering a dose of the covid-19 vaccine to a senior citizen in Niterói, in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, has been charged by the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro with fraud and violation of preventive health measures.

The investigation has been forwarded to the Prosecutor’s Office, which will decide whether or not to indict Rozemary, close the case, or order further investigations. If found guilty, the penalty could reach up to 12 years in jail for fraud and 1 year and 4 months for the other crime.

In a statement, the nurse said she was “tired and stressed,” but was unable to explain why she failed to administer the vaccine, according to the police. The Niterói Municipal Health Secretariat said it had dismissed the healthcare professional from its staff.

“Initially, she claimed she was stressed and extremely tired. But how to explain the inexplicable? How is an experienced professional going to explain why she didn’t push the plunger of the syringe when administering the vaccine? So she simply said that she didn’t know why. In the video one can see that the person accompanying the senior asked her if she had administered the vaccine correctly, and she answered with irony, confirming that she had. She knew that the liquid was there. We have already ruled out the theory that she forgot to push it in. She was fully aware of what she was doing,” said detective Luiz Henrique Marques Pereira, from the 76th Precinct(Niterói), in charge of the investigation. According to him, the nurse’s action was deliberate.

The case occurred on February 12th, at the drive-thru vaccination station of the Federal Fluminense University (UFF) campus, in Gragoatá, a neighborhood in Niterói. Escorted by relatives, a 90-year-old man attended the site to be vaccinated. A relative filmed the whole event. When the family watched the footage, they realized that the vaccine had not been injected. In the footage it is clear that the nurse is inserting the needle into the man’s arm and then removing it without pushing the plunger – therefore, not administering the dose.

According to the Niterói Health Secretariat, soon after, healthcare staff visited the senior citizen’s home and administered the vaccine correctly.

Source: O Estadão