A maskless Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, greets indigenous children in Amazonas state, Brazil, on May 27 2021. Picture: HANDOUT VIA REUTERS/MARCOS CORREA— Last August, when Brazil had emerged as among the worst hit nations by Covid-19, Pfizer offered the health ministry to set aside as many as 70-million doses of the vaccine it was developing. It got no answer. So it made the offer again. And then a third time.
The congressional hearings are uncovering a range of failures, starting with the Pfizer efforts. It took three more offers and six more months for Brazil to close an agreement. Vaccines only began to arrive piecemeal in late April, with larger batches expected after July. At the congressional hearings, testimony by former health minister Eduardo Pazuello has only added to the sense of bewilderment. He denied that he neglected the Pfizer negotiations, saying he “always” tried to buy shots but regulations prevented him from doing so.
As options dwindled, the government bought CoronaVac. But by then, it was January. The damage to the proposed timeline was done, and a new, more aggressive variant was emerging in the country.