The pressure on the Brazilian federal government due to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing. After receiving criticism from governors and entities, President Jair Bolsonaro is now the target of a lawsuit by the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) that appealed to the Federal Supreme Court to compel Bolsonaro to purchase enough vaccines for massive immunization urgently.
In a note, the OAB stated that “the actions and omissions of the President of the Republic and the Ministry of Health are evident”, such as the lack of funds for the purchase of vaccines, the delay in vaccination of the priority group, and the lack of planning for the mass vaccination.
The lawsuit also states that the Brazilian Presidency and the Ministry of Health have seen vaccines as more of a problem than a solution and stimulated disbelief about immunizers.
On Friday, the Ministry of Health announced the purchase of 138 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Of these, 100 million are from Pfizer and 38 million are from Janssen (produced by Johnson & Johnson).
Brazil today has more than 562 million doses of vaccines acquired, however, the schedule of the arrival of these doses extends until the end of the year and the pace of vaccination is slow. Brazil vaccinated 11 million people, just over 5% of its population.
