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On Thursday, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro affirmed that the country never paid or received any doses of COVID 19 vaccine manufactured by the Indian Company Bharat Biotech. His comment comes in response to the allegation of irregularities in an agreement which is currently under investigation.
As per reports, Federal prosecutors along with a special Senate committee are investigating the deal for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin shot. They notified the fact that the government came in a speedy agreement when offers from Pfizer in the year 2020 at a lower prize were ignored at that moment.
Bolsonaro confirmed that they did not spend one cent on Covaxin and neither received one dose of Covaxin. He questioned, “What sort of corruption is this?”
The president further assured to take necessary actions if any corruption is found in his government. He also stated that the cost for Bharat vaccine was broadly in line with the other countries. In addition, he also clarified that the government’s work is to carry forward purchases of COVID 19 vaccine once they are approved for use by federal health authority Anvisa.
As far as the reports are concerned, Bharat Biotech’s COVID 19 vaccines are yet to receive approval public use in the country. However, it has been given the permission to carry out a phase 3 clinical trial through a Brazilian partner company.
On the other hand on Wednesday, Bharat Biotech informed through a statement that it is yet to provide vaccine supplies to Brazil. Furthermore, it clarified that it has been consistent and transparent in its pricing with all the governments.