Image Credit:twitter.com/jairbolsonaro
Image Credit:twitter.com/BharatBiotech
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, already facing the heat over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now accused of corruption in his government’s deal with Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech. The allegations have been made by Luis Ricardo Miranda, a whistleblower at the country’s health ministry and his brother Congressman Luis Miranda, both of whom attended the Senate commission inquiry on Friday.
It may be recalled that a committee had been formed by Brazil’s Parliament to investigate the government’s handling of coronavirus. The country recently passed a grim record of 5,00,000 deaths and mass protests have erupted against President Bolsonaro in multiple cities for his failure to tackle the pandemic.
The committee is also looking into allegations of deliberate delay in vaccine procurement by the government. An important question being investigated is the reason why Bolsonaro’s government made a quick vaccine deal with Bharat Biotech when Pfizer was offering its vaccine at a lower price.
The whistleblower Luis Ricardo Miranda claimed that he had warned Bolsonaro about the suspicious deal but that no investigation happened. He added that working in the health ministry, he didn’t approve an import license as an up-front payment was demanded by Madison Biotech, a company not named in the contract with Bharat Biotech.
Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech which makes COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN released a statement refuting all allegations of wrongdoing and added that Madison Biotech was its global sales and marketing unit.
The allegations have put President Bolsonaro in a difficult situation as he was elected on the back of an anti-graft campaign and had promised zero tolerance for corruption. At a news conference, he said that there was no overpricing in the Covaxin contract. “I am incorruptible,” he said.