As Brazil's federal prosecutors and a special Senate committee are investigating allegations of irregularities in the government's deal for India's Bharat Biotech's Covaxin shot, President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said Brazil never paid for or received any doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
The agreement signed in February commits the ministry to pay USD 320 million - at a cost of USD 15 per vaccine dose - to Precisa Medicamentos, the representative of Bharat Biotech in Brazil, the AP reported. The price per dose, which was higher than for other COVID-19 vaccines including Pfizer, drew the attention of prosecutors.
Brazilian Congressman Luis Miranda and his brother Luis Ricardo Miranda, the whistleblower at the Health Ministry who raised suspicions about the vaccine deal with Bharat Biotech, are the key witnesses in the hearing that is currently underway. Luis Miranda and his lawmaker brother met with Bolsonaro in March and said they warned him of the suspicious contract, but that nothing was done to investigate the deal.
Bolsonaro refuted all allegations of corruption. "We didn't spend one cent on Covaxin. We didn't receive one dose of Covaxin. What sort of corruption is this?" Bolsonaro said.
The president pledged to take action if any corruption was discovered in his government. Bolsonaro said the price for the Bharat vaccines was broadly in line with other countries.
In a statement issued in India, Bharat Biotech said, "We strongly refute and deny any kind of allegation or implication of any wrongdoing whatsoever with respect to the supply of COVAXIN." It said Madison Biotech was its global sales and marketing unit."
-with agency inputs