The federal government is considering terminating the contract with Precisa Medicamentos, the company set to bring the Bharat Biotech vaccine to Brazil. This comes after President Jair Bolsonaro was quoted in testimony about suspicious negotiations to acquire the Indian vaccine Covaxin.
The document signed in February was for the purchase of 20 million doses, 20% of which would be imported with conditional authorization from Anvisa, for R$ 1.6 billion.
The contract was closed before the completion of the tests and at a higher price than other vaccines.
Luís Ricardo Miranda, the head of the Ministry of Health's import division, said to the Federal Pubic Ministry that he was pressured to release the vaccine.
His brother, congressman Luís Miranda, said that Bolsonaro was warned of the suspicions. The brothers will testify this Friday (25) at the Covid CPI.
The case, the most serious under scrutiny, threatens the president's claim that he is not corrupt. On a trip, he criticized the commission and said he did not have "a single act of corruption" in his administration.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon