Brazil President In A Bind Over Suspected Graft In India Vaccine Deal

The request for payment for three million doses of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin vaccine landed on March 18 on the desk of Luis Ricardo Miranda, head of medical imports at the Brazilian health ministry.

There was something fishy about the invoice: why was a company in Singapore billing Brazil $45 million for an Indian Covid-19 vaccine that hadn't been delivered? The request for payment for three million doses of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin vaccine landed on March 18 on the desk of Luis Ricardo Miranda, head of medical imports at the Brazilian health ministry. There were several red flags, according to Miranda, who testified Friday before a Senate panel investigating the government's handling of the pandemic, which has claimed more than 500,000 lives in Brazil, second only to the United States. It was peculiar Brazil was buying Covaxin at all, given that far-right President Jair Bolsonaro -- who regularly flouts expert advice on Covid-19 -- had previously rebuffed offers of cheaper, more effective vaccines.